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If SEIU and Wal-Mart Can Do It, Education Can, Too

By Alexander Russo — February 12, 2007 1 min read
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Once again, the ideas and movement on the health care front seem to be far outpacing whatever atrophied and occasional movement we see the education front.

Two weeks ago, it was the President proposing a new $100B health care tax credit in place of the current employer based two-tiered system (Health Care Big, Education Small).

Last week, longstanding opponents Wal-Mart and the unions proposed a joint health care initiative (Wal-Mart, Union Leaders Collaborate on Health Care PBS).

What would the rough equivalent of that be in education? An NEA-Alliance For School Choice deal on vouchers? I don’t know of anyone thinking big ideas out there, much less making progress on them. Wish that it were so. Let me know if I’m missing anything.

UPDATE: The ever-helpful Sherman Dorn suggests that there are grand compromises possible in education: more charters and and more union recognition.

UPDATE 2: AFT Ed is much less optimistic, based on recent experiences where folks have tried to organize charter school teachers: “It’s just this sort of practice that makes me doubtful that a compromise on charter expansion and union rights is within our reach... at least for the moment.”

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