Of Rhee, DC, Fenty and Randi.

Wow.

Whole lotta crazy stuff going on in DC, huh?

Rhee wants to basically get rid of tenure, throw a whole bunch of money at the teachers and see if they jump for it. Kind of reminds me of the satirical "volunteers step forward" bit and then everyone but a few people actually end up stepping backward.

You know, I'm one for reform. I like it, I think that things need to change in American education. The thing is that change cannot be brought by one side; nor can it be forced by one side. That's not change....that's uh, I don't even know.

If the union (any union) comes into negotiations and wants to do something, but can't get the district to agree it doesn't happen. You don't hear about that though, do you? You don't hear about the innovative ideas that teacher unions bring to the table that don't make it through bargaining.

In my opinion, the most innovative ideas that get press are the ones that don't happen, that don't get negotiated into a contract, and almost always their collective idealistic deaths are blamed on the teachers' unions and the union leaders.

You have to meet halfway folks-- you can't just say "Hey you, come over here". That just isn't good-faith bargaining.

Now, I've got to tell you what Rhee is doing is admirable-- that is, trying to make the DC schools better for the kids. What is not admirable is how she's trying to break the union with her red/green plan. I think tenure and seniority are important-- but so is being fair. She ain't being fair.

I can see it now...perhaps the WaPo, perhaps Fordham's Flypaper....perhaps even the Republicrats over at DFER/RFER, whatever they're called.

"Teacher union leader blocking significant reforms," says the headline. "Those fat-cat teacher union leaders just want more money," said blogger Wonkish EdType, "less accountability and fewer students in the classrooms of their teachers, so they can put more teachers in the classroom, have more members in their bargaining unit, collect more money for their teacher union PACS to elect more pro-labor politicians until they lower the teacher/ student ration from where it is to 1:1 and then there will be more teachers, and then you know, they'll elect one of those teachers as the the President of the United States or something and then American education will never change. Damn those teacher unions!"

Ahh, yes. How many years to retirement?

EIA To Shift Watchdog Focus Away From Teacher Unions

Note: This is satire. That means it's not real.

(Satire Wire News Reports) In a move that caught education policy wonks throughout the blogosphere by surprise, Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) founder, President and CEO Mike Antonnuci announced late yesterday that the teacher-union watchdog group would move away from its traditionally skeptical view of education-sector organized labor to making sure all students went to every class with a pencil or pen to write with.

“With the recent win by President-elect Obama,” said Antonucci, “and the increased Democratic composition of the House and Senate and the resulting after effects to the education establishment, it is clear that no one is listening to me when it comes to what I have to say regarding the NEA, AFT or teachers’ unions in general. I think by shifting my focus away from organized labor and doing my utmost to make sure that all of the students in the United States go to their classes with a pen or pencil, I’ll be helping to make sure that no children are left behind.”

An accomplished writer and noted military historian, Antonucci began covering the education beat in 1993, shifting his efforts to teacher-union surveillance shortly after the beginning of President Bill Clinton’s second term in June of 1997. EIA is a one-man for-profit research firm that promises anonymity unless a client specifically agrees to waive it, leading to rampant speculation about the group’s funders and clients.

“Those were the days,” says Antonucci, reminiscing about the beginning of the group. “Everything was so new. I remember I started EIA only about four months after NEA President Bob Chase’s ‘New Unionism’ speech at the National Press Club. You know, that speech was my call to arms. It really opened my eyes and made me see teachers, their unions and their union leaders for how they really were.”

“Things are different now,” adds Antonucci. “My ‘Intercepts’ email used to go out to over 4,000 people…now, well, I can’t tell you how many it goes out to because it’s confidential.”

Multiple anonymous sources agreed with the ideological change in climate, but maintained that there were multiple reasons the one-man research group changed its focus from unions to unfettered writing utensil access for all students.

“Antonucci has always done a good job of being thorough in this research and publications, but his output was never at a high volume,” said one high-ranking source, speaking under the condition of anonymity. “When the Fordham Foundation opened up their ‘Flypaper’ blog and started putting out between 20 and 50 posts a day over the same anti-union issues, it kind of seemed to take the wind out of his sails.”

Others familiar with the situation disagreed, chalking it up to a case of “Solidarinosis”.

“Mike was spending too much time involved with union ideas and concepts,” said another anonymous source. “He worked super long hours poring over data, statistics and tables of all things union. I think it rubbed off on him. (Antonucci) started to feel as if the hard work he was doing for EIA wasn’t being truly appreciated by the management. He confronted the management with demands, and the management turned him down.”

When asked why Antonucci would confront himself with demands when he is the founder and only employee of the organization, the anonymous source simply replied, “This is a satire piece. None of this is true, and it’s supposed to be funny. So there.”