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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (2306)	6/18/2003 4:08:31 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793840

I've actually uprooted the family and moved to a little town in Italy called Palau. I looked you up on mapquest, and it shows as on an island off the coast south of Monaco. I assume you retired there. Looks like a great place, if you speak Italian. What brought that move about?

To: greenspirit who wrote (2306)	6/18/2003 5:20:15 PM
From: JohnM	Respond to of 793840

If there were union leaders who supported structural changes (such as vouchers), I believe you would be able to name one or two. The fact that there are virtually none, provides evidence supporting my "broad generalization". It's laughable to think of of a union leader standing in front of a teachers rally proclaiming his-or-her support for vouchers. If you wish to make vouchers the one structural change that would matter, then I can follow that for a moment. I think the previous national AFT president whose name escapes me supported them but I'm far from certain. He was something of a domestic neocon. But that's not an argument I wish to make a big deal of. I think opposition to vouchers is a very good thing because vouchers would lead to the destruction of the public school system. That's why I've been arguing that the public school system works reasonably well save for exceptions; whereas Bill wishes to assert it's bad period and the only hope is vouchers. And I argue that even though, this will not surprise you, I am not a teachers union president. The simple truth is, the culture surrounding union leaders in education is reflexively opposed to systemic structural changes such as vouchers. I don't believe it's any worse than any other bureaucracy's resistance to change and, in many instances, more flexible. One of the test cases would be schools like Central Park East in NYC, in which the advocates, in the 70s, were able to convince both the unions and the school bureaucracy to drop a great many rules requirements to give teachers themselves more control over their school. I don't know the particulars of the discussions with the unions; just know that the verbal lore around the schools when I visited them for about four years running in the middle 90s with various groups of college students was that the then powers that be gave them unusual authority. And, best I can tell, it worked. Sorry about the long delay in posting. I've actually uprooted the family and moved to a little town in Italy called Palua. Been fun so far! The beaches are gorgeous this time of year! Wonderful. Can you tell us a bit more as to where that is. And why you might have moved. Retirement? Socrates really had something eh John. :-) I'm afraid I don't see the connection, Michael. Care to elaborate?