Democrats 'have been wrong on education'

Reporting on "union tensions" at the Democratic National Convention, Education Week's Michele McNeil says "the education event that followed the NEA luncheon showed the growing tensions within the Democratic Party over school reform, and the role of teachers’ unions." McNeil reports that anti-union sentiment

was strong and persistent at the standing-room-only, three-hour forum called Ed Challenge for Change. In fact, 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. ... The anti-union sentiment spilled over into policy forums that followed. The fight against the teachers’ unions and other special interests is a "battle at the heart of the Democratic Party," said Newark Mayor Cory Booker. "As Democrats, we have been wrong on education. It's time to get right."

Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of the Washington, D.C. Public Schools system, also chided the Democrats, reminding them that their party is "supposed to be the party that looks out for poor and minority kids."