There's a lot for conservatives to dislike about the Bush Administration when it comes to education and the No Child Left Behind Act. But they should give the President some credit: he certainly split the Democratic Party on the issue. Consider the news out of Denver, where the "Ed Challenge for Change" event showcased the bitter divide between progressive reformers and teachers unions--a direct outcome, I would argue, of NCLB. Consider this, from the Rocky Mountain News:
"It is a battle for the heart of the Democratic Party," said Corey Booker, the 39-year-old rising star mayor of Newark, N.J."We have been wrong in education," Booker said of his party and its alliances with teachers unions that put adults before children. "It's time to get right."
Booker was among those who appeared Sunday at the Denver Art Museum to challenge the Democratic Party to reconsider its course on education.
In references sometimes veiled and sometimes blunt, they tackled the party's often-cozy relationship with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which typically support--financially and otherwise--Democratic candidates.
"The Democratic Party is supposed to look out for poor and minority kids," said Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. "That's not the dynamic today," said Rhee, who is battling her city's union over a plan to overhaul teacher pay.
The rousing rhetoric shocked John Wilson, executive director of the NEA.
"I was absolutely stunned at the level of union-bashing," Wilson said. "I think leaders who wish to provide a vision and a plan for improving our schools undermine themselves by alienating the teachers... who have to carry out that plan."
Campaign K-12 reports that the event had a standing-room-only crowd, and that "some of the big-city mayors who participated predicted that had such a forum been held four years ago, a mere five souls would have showed."
That's because four years ago, pro-school reform, pro-NCLB Democrats had to worry about looking too pro-Bush. That's not a problem this year, so there's nothing keeping them from rallying around what can be considered one of the greatest progressive victories of recent decades.
Expect to hear more union bashing next week in Minneapolis--without the cheerleading for NCLB.
