It's almost a full-time job to keep up with education policy as it relates to unions and the political parties - and that job has been getting even harder. The picture just isn't as clear as it used to be.

There's some tension between the unions and the Democrats.

• Some prominent Dems are starting to think that their historically-strong partnership with teachers unions hasn't been that effective. ""We keep going to the old ways that don't work, to protect the political careers of some and the contracts of others at the expense of the children. And the results are the data that we have," [Rev. Al] Sharpton said at a June 11 press conference."
• The NEA's luncheon event at last week's DNC brought some surprises. "The anti-union sentiment spilled over into policy forums that followed. The fight against the teachers’ unions and other special interests is a “battle at the heart of the Democratic Party,” said Newark Mayor Cory Booker. “As Democrats, we have been wrong on education. It’s time to get right.”"
• The Democrats for Education Reform, who have taken a great deal of heat of late - they're traitors in the eyes of some Democrats - lay out a ton of articles on the party's changing approach to education.
• The American Federation of Teachers is proceeding with caution.
• Little Ed, who is an astute commentator for being only 5 years old, also weighs in.

The right and left are fighting over owning failure [yes, this is real].

• Kevin Carey of Education Sector penned a piece for The American Prospect called "How the Dems Lost on Education." The tagline: "Republicans have exploited the Democratic Party's failure to own the education-reform issue--and students have paid the price." He thinks the Dems have blown it.
• Mike Petrilli of the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute disagrees. He thinks his Republicans have blown it. In response to Carey, he writes, "Well...I don’t mean to be ungracious, but if we’re talking about winners and losers, there’s a strong case to be made that NCLB has been a boon to the left and an embarrassment to the right."
• Eduflack tries to move past it all with a fine summary:

"Education may not be THE defining issue of this campaign, but as we are discussing the middle class and small towns and the economy and the future, the one common thread is education. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, we all should agree that every child should have a high-quality education and every child should have the opportunity to succeed. I know the campaign advisors agree with this, now we just have to get the nominees to say it out loud and in public."

Hear, hear, Eduflack!

Whether you call it confusing, exciting, or anything in between, we're in for a wild ride over the next two months - hopefully for the better.

Sign in to rate