The best thing about Jonathan Alter?s latest Newsweek article on education reform (which does not yet appear online)? He still understands the negative role teachers? unions and the rest of the education establishment play in the effort to improve public schools:
The push for reform, which began with the 1983 government report ?A Nation At Risk,? had been stymied for years by what?s sometimes known as ?The Blob? ? the collection of bureaucracies, school boards, and teachers? unions committed to protecting the failed status quo.
The worst thing about the article? Alter believes President Obama?s reform efforts amount to something:
Obama?s engine of reform, Race to the Top, has been phenomenally successful in using a relatively small pot of money, $4.4 billion from the 2009 stimulus package, to leverage a huge amount of change in education.
Perhaps Mr. Alter needs to interview Terry Stoops or Darrell Allison (see below) about the impact of Race to the Top on real education reform:
