It's almost mocking in tone. It was sent to blogger, Fred Klonsky, regarding his posts about Jonah Edelman and his gloating remarks at Aspen about how he got the better of teachers' unions.
Jonah Edelman, son of well-known child advocate Marion Wright Edelman, bragged how his
efforts had swayed the elections in Illinois, fooled the unions in to going along...and the media never noticed.
.."I’m being quite blunt here. The individual candidates were essentially a vehicle to execute a political objective, which was to tilt toward Madigan. The press never picked up on it. We endorsed nine individuals – and six of them were Democrats, three Republicans – and tilted our money toward Madigan, who was expecting because of Bruce Rauner’s leadership … that all our money was going to go to Republicans. That was really a show of – indication to him that we could be a new partner to take the place of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. That was the point. Luckily, it never got covered that way. That wouldn’t have worked well in Illinois – Madigan is not particularly well liked. And it did work.
And so in Aurora, Ill., in December, out of nowhere, there were hearings on our proposal. In addition, we hired 11 lobbyists, including four of the absolute best insiders, and seven of the best minority lobbyists – preventing the unions from hiring them. We enlisted a state public affairs firm. We had tens of thousands of supporters. … We raised $3 million for our political action committee. That’s more money than either of the unions have in their political action committees.
..."So in the intervening time, Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor … and he strongly supports our proposal. Jim (apparently Crown) … talked about the talking point that we made up and he (Emanuel) repeated about a thousand times, probably, on the campaign trail about the Houston kids going to school four years more than the Chicago kids. That was another shoe that dropped, and it really put a lot of pressure on the unions, particularly on the Chicago Teachers Union because they didn’t support it.
Yes, they admit to making up a talking point and getting Rahm to use it over and over.
The blogger posted the email, and I don't blame him. For a conservative activist, speaker at Beck's 912 project, and supporter of Scott Walker...to talk that way to a teacher is inexcusable. The blogger has years of experience as an educator, and he should be treated with respect.
This is twice now just recently that reformers have let their true colors show, and in a mocking way.
Email from an unapologetic ed reformerFred, as an unapologetic “education reformer,” I’m enjoying watching this meltdown. Edelman is clearly guilty of a “Kinsey gaffe,” where someone in politics accidentally tells the truth.
Fact is, America’s education system is in shambles. With 50+ years of “reform” having been either written, or subverted, by the education bureaucracy, it is now clear that it is beyond “reform.” It must be dismantled.
..."Even more ironic, is that (from my perspective) he’s probably truly interested in “saving” public education, perhaps to turn it over to “professionals” or consultants. Real “reformers,” OTOH, are fighting for much more aggressive changes that will truly “transform” education from a failed “government education complex” to an open sourced learning network.
..."…still laughing that Edelman called SB7 “bold.” Scott Walker, Indiana, vouchers, and parent triggers….that’s bold. SB7 was all you could get in IL, and reading this blog, you’d think the world just ended.
-Bruno Behrend
Behrend's credentials are very right wing. Fred Klonsky was right to point out his rudeness.
Bruno Behrend, J.D., is director of the Center for School Reform at The Heartland Institute. From early 2006 through late 2008, Behrend hosted a radio show in the Chicago area that showcased authors and policy specialists including publisher Steve Forbes, columnist Mark Steyn, author Shelby Steele, and many others. In 2008, Behrend coauthored Illinois Deserves Better - The Ironclad Case for an Illinois Constitutional Convention, the release of which coincided with a campaign to pass a referendum calling for a Constitutional Convention in Illinois.
Mr. Behrend has served as an advisor to groups seeking to rewrite the legislative article of the Illinois Constitution and as Field Director for FreedomWorks in Illinois. In 2009, he was policy director for a gubernatorial candidate in the Illinois primary election. Heartland InstituteThis fellow Behrend calls Scott Walker a policy stud. Really.
Gov. Scott Walker: Extraordinary Leader, Policy StudYou have to admire a guy who simply knows what needs to be done and does it. It’s even better that he’s gutsy enough to double-down in the midst of an already controversial environment.
We’ve all heard about the stand-off with the unions and the AWOL Wisconsin Democrats. Walker, no shrinking violet, just gave a budget address, announcing that he’s doing what virtually every American politician is afraid to do — cut education waste, fraud and abuse (more commonly known as “education spending).
..."Perhaps most refreshing of all, is that Walker is just cutting spending on these pikers, and ditching the failed strategy of trying to “buy” reform with more dollars to a greedy class of education bureaucrats and union power-brokers.
I don’t know if Scott Walker is going to win these battles, but I applaud his dropping the failures of the past. He seems to understand that bargaining against yourself and caving to morally illegitimate interests hasn’t been working.
The reformers are showing their real personalities and true goals more often now.
This is what public education is facing. And it is the continuation of Bush education policy under a Democratic administration.
There is no public figure with any political clout taking the side of the public school teachers. I want to know how that happened in this country.
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