The Washington Teachers' Union president tells it like it is (on The NewsHour):
JOHN MERROW: Rhee is hoping to tie teacher pay to student achievement. Because teacher union membership is declining, Rhee may have an edge in negotiations.
GEORGE PARKER: The charter school enrollment is increasing. Public school enrollment is decreasing. We are now a competitive school district where student achievement may very well determine our existence.
JOHN MERROW: More than a quarter of D.C.'s school-age children now attend public charter schools, where teachers do not have to belong to the union.
GEORGE PARKER: Normally, unions have not had to contend with any sense of accountability or responsibility for student achievement, and our existence and survival has not depended upon that.
JOHN MERROW: Why hasn't student achievement been a bread-and-butter issue for teacher unions all along?
GEORGE PARKER: I think that there has been a union paradigm of union and management of, "This is your turf. This is our turf."