This is an era in which Left and Right are quickly moving further apart. But suddenly – and stunningly – the two sides are moving close to agreement on one huge topic: education.
Conservatives and Republicans have long complained about what they view as recalcitrant teachers unions that thwart any real reform. They tout charter schools, among other measures, to wrest back control. Reflexively, liberals and Democrats have disagreed.
Now, suddenly, no more.
Just last week, patrons of the chronically underperforming McKinley Elementary School in Compton pulled the so-called parent trigger. They delivered a petition, signed by more than 51 percent of parents as required by a new state law, so they can force a change of control and invite a charter operator to take over. It got a lot of attention because it was a first-in-the-country parental takeover of a school in this fashion.
But what’s just as remarkable: Of all those behind this effort and supporting it, probably not one has ever worn a “Rush Is Right” button. The parent-trigger law was authored by a Democrat, former state Sen. Gloria Romero of Los Angeles. The non-profit that assisted the McKinley patrons called Parent Revolution is a liberal group. The Obama administration’s education secretary, Arne Duncan, supports the effort, and Rahm Emanuel has promised to introduce similar regulations if he wins his campaign for mayor of Chicago.
This is a Nixon-went-to-China development. It’s just as surprising as the release a few months ago of the documentary “Waiting for Superman,” an unflinching criticism of public school systems and unions directed not by Sean Hannity but by the same progressive, Davis Guggenheim, who did Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”
But the biggest stunner came last week when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – a former teachers union activist – turned on leaders of the United Teachers of Los Angeles union.
In a speech in Sacramento, he said that over the last five years he’s tried to help schools improve, but “there has been one, unwavering roadblock to reform: UTLA union leadership.”
He said, “They have consistently been the most powerful defenders of the status quo. I do not say this because of any animus toward unions. I deeply believe that teachers unions can and must be part of our efforts to transform our schools. Regrettably, they have yet to join us as we have forged ahead with a reform agenda.
“At every step of the way, when Los Angeles was coming together to effect real change in our public schools, UTLA was there to fight against the change and slow the pace of reform.”
That was such a shocker that journalist Joe Mathews, writing in Fox & Hounds Daily, said it was “the most significant speech given by a California politician this year.”
Of course, I don’t need to tell you that the quality of public education is of immense interest to the local business community. It’s often cited as a big impediment to business here. Just try recruiting an out-of-towner with school-age kids.
Look, it is time that we all – left, right or decline to state – admit that we have let down our children, particularly in urban school districts all across the country. The very best public school districts are only pretty good. But too many school systems are a profound embarrassment, bordering on criminal. We’ve turned out into this competitive world huge numbers of undereducated kids.
There’s a tremendous amount of repair work to be done. Who knows? Maybe it can’t be done in one or even two generations. But suddenly, stunningly, it seems we’re taking the first and most crucial step. We agree.
Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
