As a national education player, the American Federation of Teachers has been careful not to bash No Child Left Behind too overtly. It even calls its NCLB site "Let's Get It Right" (not, say, "Throw NCLB Under the Bus"). But that's not the tone expressed by the president of its Pennsylvania affiliate when explaining its support for Hillary Clinton to Education Week's David Hoff:
Sen. Clinton has been more emphatic about overhauling the No Child Left Behind Act and has opposed merit pay for teachers, said Mr. Kirsch, who as a vice president of the national union took part in the AFT's decision to endorse Sen. Clinton in October.
Mr. Kirsch isn't kidding; Clinton's standard line is that "I want to end the No Child Left Behind program because I don't think it's working the way it was promised." So now "emphatic about overhauling" means "determined to kill."
Fordham was once charged with having an unclear position on NCLB. Ours is sunny blue day compared to the AFT's murky skies. Perhaps it's up to the incoming AFT president to set things straight. Ms. Weingarten, where do you stand?
