Teachers as part of the solution
If Randi Weingarten had her way, the teaching profession would look a lot like the National Football League (NFL). In the NFL, said the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the countless hours spent off the field practicing, training, and reviewing game day tapes are vital to preparing athletes to perform at their best. “Does anybody really think that football players only work during the period of time that they are on the field?” she asked a crowd at a Harvard Graduate School of Education Askwith Forum on March 31. The same needs to be true for teachers, she said, and unions play a critical role in making that sports model a reality in schools. During the discussion, Weingarten laid out her organization’s four-point “theory of action” on how to turn the American public school system from an industrial to a knowledge-based model, in which teachers are fully supported. Quality is a big...