Thompson: Hang Together or Hang Separately

I do not know which was better news, the Madison teachers' sickout, or Secretary Duncan's labor-management conference.  When collective bargaining is threatened, teachers can either fight honorably, even if we go down together, or we can abandon the profession separately.  But if we want to improve education for children, then unions, administrators, and political leaders must hang together.  My complaint with the Duncan Administration is that he has empowered both reformers and "reformers" to innovate to improve student performance, or to damage the teaching profession.  He overlooked the need for checks and balances, as he bestowed incredible power on management.  The beauty of our constitutional democracy is our culture of the "loyal opposition," where we see our opponent as an opponent and not as an enemy.  The conversations started this week could help restore a comparable culture in many of our schools. - JT (@drjohnthompson)  Image via.

Comments

[Nancy Flanagan]

[JT] "The beauty of our constitutional democracy is our culture of the 'loyal opposition,' where we see our opponent as an opponent and not as an enemy. The conversations started this week could help restore a comparable culture in many of our schools."

[NF] I have always believed that the Duncan administration should be pleased at the continuing stream of commentary (blogs, books, videos, lounge conversations, and the one-woman opposition show, Diane Ravitch) pushing back against their most egregious policy shifts. Perhaps it's partly due to the increased availability of social media-- but I think that educators are still pushing back because they think someone may be listening in this administration, the people they worked hard to elect. As opposed to the previous administration...

The loyal opposition, indeed. It's been interesting to see Obama and Duncan's nuanced comments on the situation in Wisconsin. How often can you walk the middle of road?

[john thompson]

Great point, I think that there must be people in the Obama Administration, and the business community, that are listening to us. In my state of Oklahoma, the key will be whether Business Conservatives follow their professional judgments and work with our moderate union leaders, or follow their political judgments, hold their nose, and go along with the Religious Right.

I don’t have a problem with Duncan’s middle of the road approach, politically. My problem has been his willingness to split the difference in turns of factual accuracy.

Worse, I have worried since I saw Republicans in my state, who are to the Right of Attila the Hun, praising Duncan effusively. Duncan twisted our arms, so unions accepted the Colorado law, ended seniority, and mandated test scores for evaluations. Now that system is completely controlled by Republicans, many of whom believe that public schools are evil. Now, it would take a brave biology teacher to mention Evolution.

Duncan says he’ll talk to the Wisconsin governor, but he has no leverage there. Surely, he’s quietly pressuring Tennessee and Florida to honor the spirit of collaboration or forfeit their RttT. If the RttT becomes a slush fund for the Florida Tea Party, Obama will lose any chance of its electoral votes. If this attack on due process and collective bargaining spreads to Ohio, and Duncan doesn’t see that as a “which side are you on?” issue, Obama will lose another swing state. At a certain point, no amount of moderation by union leaders will help, if rank-in-file teachers and others conclude that Duncan has tossed us overboard.

[john thompson]

Great point, I think that there must be people in the Obama Administration, and the business community, that are listening to us. In my state of Oklahoma, the key will be whether Business Conservatives follow their professional judgments and work with our moderate union leaders, or follow their political judgments, hold their nose, and go along with the Religious Right.

I don’t have a problem with Duncan’s middle of the road approach, politically. My problem has been his willingness to split the difference in turns of factual accuracy.

Worse, I have worried since I saw Republicans in my state, who are to the Right of Attila the Hun, praising Duncan effusively. Duncan twisted our arms, so unions accepted the Colorado law, ended seniority, and mandated test scores for evaluations. Now that system is completely controlled by Republicans, many of whom believe that public schools are evil. Now, it would take a brave biology teacher to mention Evolution.

Duncan says he’ll talk to the Wisconsin governor, but he has no leverage there. Surely, he’s quietly pressuring Tennessee and Florida to honor the spirit of collaboration or forfeit their RttT. If the RttT becomes a slush fund for the Florida Tea Party, Obama will lose any chance of its electoral votes. If this attack on due process and collective bargaining spreads to Ohio, and Duncan doesn’t see that as a “which side are you on?” issue, Obama will lose another swing state. At a certain point, no amount of moderation by union leaders will help, if rank-in-file teachers and others conclude that Duncan has tossed us overboard.