Duncan Caves to Teachers' Unions?
12:22 PM, Feb 16, 2011 • By MICHAEL WARREN
So says the New York Post, which reports that Education secretary Arne Duncan edited a speech so that he wouldn't be criticizing the controversial "last in, first out" employment in a speech to teachers' union members in Denver:
Unions often defend these rules that favor seniority, whereby teachers with more experience are protected from being fired regardless of teaching performance. But policies like LIFO and others have received increased scrutiny, particularly as a result of the anti-teachers' union documentary Waiting for "Superman." When the film first premiered in Washington, Duncan praised the documentary and called it an educational "Rosa Parks moment."
So why the last minute change in the speech? It's especially odd considering President Obama praised a Denver school in his State of the Union address that bucked the teachers' union.
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