The Ohio union lady had it right.
Did I just say that???
Yep, you betcha (for you Sarah fans out there). Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers has taken issue with ads by the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, boasting that both presidential candidates are all about high quality charters. In other words, charters win no matter what!
Sue knows better, and believe you me, those union leaders don’t endorse candidates lightly. This union president told Education Week, that “yes, (Obama) would support increasing federal dollars, and he would support increasing the number of charters, but that was with the caveat that he would hold them accountable and…those that are not educating our students [would be closed.]”
Of course, accountability for results is something that The Center for Education Reform agrees with wholeheartedly. But that’s not the kind of accountability Sue is talking about. Her organization has sued at least twice to shut down charters – failing or not – for not performing actions they think are necessary. They’ve also made up a few things along the way, like the notion that they should not get local funds without school board approval, or that charters are possibly unconstitutional. Those attempts have been dismissed in court, as have their legislative attempts along side Governor Strickland to put most charters – regardless of achievement status – out of business.
Splitting policy hairs is our business in order to really know how and when policymakers may be motivated to act. We did that in our analysis of the candidates, as well as in our review of the Obama “responsible charter” speech.
Our tent is very big and we embrace and applaud any person of any political persuasion who truly supports strong policies that enable and protect strong charter schools. Sue is right though – there’s a very big difference in the positions of the two people competing to win, and it’s time all charter supporters – and those that call themselves leaders – held them both to high standards and didn’t give them the trophy before they’d drawn a win for the team.
Tags: accountability, barack obama, charter school, National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, ohio, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Sarah Palin, Sue Taylor, Ted Strickland
