Trojan Horse Not Required

Arne Duncan's walking right through the door to discuss his Race to the Top with NYSUT.   Duncan famously said he hadn't met anyone who opposed his programs and he's not likely to encounter any such individuals at NYSUT either.  After all, they repeatedly rose to their feet to applaud Bill Gates, whose baseless meanderings and bountiful billions essentially fueled this entire exercise.

And yes, communication is good.  Exchange of ideas is healthy.  But I've yet to see a scintilla of evidence that union participation consists of anything other than appeasement.  That's a flawed strategy, particularly considering that every time the union cuts off yet another appendage, the tabloid editorials simply condemn them for not having given up more.

The UFT's claim that test scores will be used in only 40% of teacher evaluations instead of 50% is less than impressive when one considers value-added has 0% validity and that hundreds, thousands of working American teachers could end up fired for no good reason.