Couple of interesting developments in the Secretary of Education bidding. First, what letters give they can take away. Lily Eskelsen GarcĂa got a big boost with this letter supporting her candidacy from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. But now several disability advocacy groups have released their own letter opposing her potential nomination over several longstanding disagreements on special education policy.
Notably the groups don’t get into this stuff. They don’t have to, they have receipts, as the kids say, on real policy disagreements. Good reminder, also, that many education issues are less left-right or conservative v. progressive than they are institutional interests versus parents. This supplier versus consumer tension is a big one facing Democrats though on special education neither party has a great record of late.
Meanwhile, Steve Barr is campaigning for AFT head Randi Weingarten. He cites her work as a “successful charter school founder” and someone who can bring education’s warring factions together.
Fact Check: Both teachers unions have a record on running charter schools, neither has a good record running successful charter schools…