Political Heat Turns Up on RtTT

Politico has an article on the political melodrama surrounding RtTT. If there’s a sign that adult issues – rather than the best interests of students – are creeping into this discussion, coverage in Politico is it.

A couple of things on the substance here. First, I just don’t buy the argument that the grant to date hasn’t been successful. The number of student-centered regulatory and policy changes enabled by the program is astonishing. That is no small accomplishment. Moreover, say what you will about the winners, but both TN and DE have demonstrated years long commitments to statewide change agendas.

Second, there’s a quote here from Randi W. suggesting that school change has never happened amidst such acrimony. This is clever to suggest, but it’s a political argument that gets traction in public education and would be suspect in any other policy context. Quick thought experiment: what if the head of a financial services lobby argued that we shouldn’t change financial regulatory structures because it was upsetting to the industry? (Note: I’m not saying that the AFT is like the financial services lobby in any way other than that they represent an existing adult power structure.)

Shorter version: the displeasure of status quo interests isn’t reason to abandon reform. That’s what reform tends to do.