Randi Weingarten, soon to be the head of the American Federation of Teachers, would have us believe that the ideas she proposes as fixes to k-12 public education are new. According to the New York Times, Weingarten "wants to replace President Bush's focus on standardized testing with a vision of public schools as community centers that help poor students succeed by offering not only solid classroom lessons but also medical and other services." One portion of??a speech to be delivered today by Weingarten at the AFT convention reads, "Sisters and brothers, this is an idea whose time has come." But isn't this actually an idea whose time has passed, an idea whose time yielded no noticeable gains in student achievement???
What does Richard??Kahlenberg think? ???My sense is that Randi Weingarten is continuing Al Shanker's tradition, clearly standing up for the interests of teachers but also trying to engage in thoughtful education reform that will be good for students."??After uttering which quote??Kahlenberg hung up the telephone and resumed work on his forthcoming op-ed??detailing how??Al Shanker would never have??allowed Fannie Mae and??Freddie Mac to borrow from the discount window.