Sunday, October 10, 2010

Union boss says 'educational landscape has changed'

There's a rather remarkable column today in The Oklahoman by Ed Allen, president of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO ('On education, reform must be Item 1'). He writes,
Advocates of SQ 744 don't seem to realize that the educational landscape has changed; they continue to see public education in one shape, with everyone else seeing another. Proponents of SQ 744 see dollars first; opponents see reform first.

Granted, the reforms he outlines are pretty weak tea. Nevertheless, his emphasis on reform is commendable:

Reform must come first and the dollars to support achievement must follow. As educators, we must accept the fact that reform is here and it is not going away. Demanding dollars without reform is a losing argument, morally unacceptable, and politically unattainable.

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