Reply #19: Geoffrey attacks unions. [View All]

"The status quo, which got us to this terrible place, is obviously not going to get us out. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have taken promising steps at the federal level: creating the Race to the Top initiative to spur wholesale education reform and beginning to revamp the No Child Left Behind Law.

Unfortunately the legislative outlook in New York State is not nearly as hopeful. The state submitted a flawed application for Race to the Top. Yes, we are a finalist - but it is improbable that we will get money unless legislators in Albany remove a number of roadblocks to higher student achievement. One of the biggest problems is that the state is currently prohibiting the growth of charter schools.

The United Federation of Teachers, with its lobbying muscle, along with some politicians living in the communities most devastated by failed schools, are the leading voices preventing charter school growth. It is easier for them to scapegoat charter schools than lead the way down the tougher path of education reform. They pretend that charter schools are the problem, ignoring the fact that these same districts have been failing since I was attending Public School 99 in the South Bronx in the 1960s.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/28/2010-03-28_charters_hypocritical_enemies.html#ixzz0lNz8fBfn