At A Crossroads

Last year, I noted in The American Spectator that President Barack Obama’s appointment of Arnie Duncan as U.S. Secretary of Education was evidence of the increasing strain in the relationship between teachers unions and the Democratic Party.  A younger generation of Democrat school reformers, led by such stalwarts as Education Sector’s Andy Rotherham, along with the school reform efforts of urban mayors such as Adrian Fenty in Washington, D.C., would prove to be strong foes against  efforts to maintain the status quo by the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). As a result of diverging positions between the two groups on such matters as national standards and teacher compensation, the relationship between Democrats and teachers unions would get interesting, to say the least.

A year later, NEA and AFT leaders finally realize that they can’t count on unquestioned Democrat support. From the divide within the AFT’s DC local over the alternate salary scale (in exchange for ending tenure) proposed by DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to the mandates for expanding charter schools and implementing performance-based teacher pay contained in the Race to the Top guidelines, teachers unions find themselves in an uncomfortable position. The lack of support from their allies makes the positions of union leaders and the rank-and-file untenable. And the tenuous conditions of heavily-underfunded teacher pensions, along with the desire among new teachers to be rewarded for successful work also means that NEA and AFT locals must think over their stances.

This doesn’t mean that teachers unions won’t hold on for dear life and it certainly doesn’t mean that Democrats will suddenly abandon their most-consistent source of campaign financing and electioneering support. The ascent of Sen. Tom Harken to the chairmanship of the Senate’s education and labor committee means the loss of a strong supporter of school reform (in the form of the late Ted Kennedy) — and gives the AFT and NEA some hope. Whether Duncan (and Obama) will stand behind school reforms will depend as much on Obama’s approval ratings as on finding dollars to add to the funding once Race to the Top dollars are spent.

Meanwhile conservative school reformers such as the Thomas B. Fordham Institute — once stalwart supporters of school reform — have retreated as support from Republicans and institutional dollars has dissipated. If Republicans win back at least the House next year, this will likely mean step backs in school reform efforts at the federal level — which would favor the NEA and AFT overall.

Again, the positioning by school reform Democrats and teachers unions will remain the most-interesting drama in federal education discussions for some time.