Tomorrow, on his continuing education tour, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be joined in Philadelphia by two gentlemen who because of their obvious differences on many levels are called the Odd Couple of education.  I applaud strange bedfellows - when they make things happen for kids. With this one, I’m not so sure.

The first real Odd Couples of education led some of the nation’s most fundamental shifts in education, shifts that had once been considered radical.  Looking back through the past sixteen years, it’s clear that while education reform has changed dramatically, broad, mainstream support for bold changes in education existed then, just as they do now.  It was just much less hip to say so.

Then, policymakers who led the fight for charter schools, merit pay (as it was called in those days), vouchers and the like were accused of being part of the vast right wing conspiracy and generally anti-public education, despite the fact that such nomenclature didn’t fit then, just as it does not now. CER’s first work celebrated legislators like Pennsylvania Democrat Dwight Evans, who joined hands with Republican Tom Ridge to pass that state’s charter bill.  Miami Urban League head T. Willard Fair teamed up with Governor Jeb Bush to bring vouchers to Florida, following in the steps of Representative Polly Williams, a former Black Panther, in league with conservative Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

These were the first, real Odd Couples of the modern education reform movement.  They were bold, tenacious, and courageous to cross party lines, incur the wrath of unions together and suffer all sorts of education establishment slurs.

More “Gingrich and Sharpton – An Odd Couple for Education, But Not the First”

Dear Dennis,

Have you ever thought that by building up the profession of teaching you would be building up your individual members as well? You are vehemently opposed to performance pay for teachers based on student performance or evaluation and recently argued against President Obama’s proposal that the government fund a merit pay program, suggesting instead that the money be tied to professional development and focused on “the practice of teaching”.  Wouldn’t a student achievement-based evaluation be an ideal way to reward “the practice of teaching”, as the successful education of a student is exactly that? Why don’t you focus on treating teachers well, as professionals, rather than fighting for systems that will only lead to more failure - of your members, of their students - in the end?

Ed Reformer

An Open Letter to Greg Toppo (USA TODAY)
October 16, 2008

Dear Greg,

A huge round of applause to you for covering the education views of the prospective next POTUS.  Your coverage of education is almost always on point with a keen distinction between rhetoric and reality.  This is why CER once gave you an award for excellence in journalism and has been an avid fan. 

But on your candidate coverage this week, it seems you confuse what the candidates believe with what others expect each candidate to believe and hence, there are a couple of phrases which seem loaded in one direction and not another.  In the interest of fairness, I’d like to point these assumptions out.

More “Not So Fast”