Teachers (and Parents) Hook-up with (Some) RWers to Battle Corporate ED "Reform"

[Smarmie Doofus]

Sounds like it *has* to be this way, given the circumstances.

I'd maintain that the critical passage is right here:

>>>>These unlikely partnerships in opposition mirror alliances that formed to introduce the contentious policies in the first place. Centrist Democrats — including those in the Obama administration — lined up with moderate Republicans and business leaders to promote the new standards, teacher evaluations and updated standardized tests.>>>>>

From yesterday's NYT.

>>>>>MYRNA, Tenn. — She is a fan of MSNBC, supports abortion rights and increased government spending in schools, and believes unions should have the right to strike. He watches Fox News, opposes abortion and is a fiscal conservative who voted three years ago to strip teachers unions of collective bargaining rights.

Yet Emily Mitchell, a wiry, 4-foot-9-inch Democrat and first-grade teacher at David Youree Elementary School here, sees State Representative Rick Womick, a 6-foot-2-inch conservative Republican, as an important ally. Their common cause: battling new high-stakes standardized tests and some other hot-button policies in public education.

“I always viewed him as the enemy, the guy that would never see our side,” said Ms. Mitchell, who is president of the Rutherford County chapter of the Tennessee Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. But after she met Mr. Womick at a church function in February of last year, she said, “I realized that even though he’s polar opposite politically from what I believe in, we both agreed on a lot of things on education.”


With tensions running high over issues surrounding academic benchmarks, standardized testing and performance evaluations for educators, unlikely coalitions of teachers, lawmakers and parents from the left and right are increasingly banding together to push back against what they see as onerous changes in education policy. Some have Tea Party Republicans and teachers unions on the same side.

In Oklahoma, teachers unions gave strong support to a bill, sponsored by Republicans, that would overturn a law requiring third graders to be held back simply on the basis of the results

the rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/us/unlikely-allies-uniting-to-fight-school-changes.html?rref=us&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Politics&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

[madfloridian]

1. There is a lot to that argument now. It's happening.

Yet still some attempt to discredit those of us who oppose Obama's ed policies as aligning ourselves with right wingers.

It's such a destructive policy that maybe it will take an alliance. Hate it but it might be true.

I just got accused of that in my GD post.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025004676

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Strange times indeed. The presumptive GOP candidate for NY Governor has joined the Opt-Out movement:

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/31/astorino-says-common-core-opt/7114515/

Diane Ravitch could have written the speech. Unfortunately, he's hopelessly RW on almost every other issue.

While Cuomo's been completely bought off by Big ED $$$$.

Which leaves room for a sizable defection to the third party Greens. They're running NYC teacher union activist Brian Jones for Lieutenant Gov.

Perhaps GENUINE reform may actually enter the public conversation.