Rotherham tries to run away from himself.
Eduwonk’s Andy Rotherham wrote a column on Monday in the NY Times attacking union contracts.
On Tuesday, “Bag-O-Glass” sleaze-ball Rich Berman runs a full page ad in the NY Times attacking teacher unions.
But ed bloggers have blown Berman’s cover. It turns out he’s been a front man for the tobacco industry, run PR attacks on Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Americans with Disabilities Act among others.
Too wacky even for Rotherham. But Rotherham tries to run away from himself.
In Mondays op-ed piece he says,
While laws like No Child Left Behind take the rhetorical punches for being a straitjacket on schools, it is actually union contracts that have the greatest effect over what teachers can and cannot do.
But in his blog today he ratchets back from that outlandish statement:
There are obviously some challenges around teachers’ contracts and dealing with persistent low-performers…
From “greatest effect,” to “some challenges.” In just two days.
Ferraro’s comments not new. Updated.
Politico.com’s Ben Smith recalls:
“If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race,” she said.
Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis.
Here’s the full context:
Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don’t ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his “radical” views, “if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”
Asked about this at a campaign stop in Buffalo, Jackson at first seemed ready to pounce fiercely on his critics. But then he stopped, took a breath, and said quietly, “Millions of Americans have a point of view different from” Ferraro’s.
Discussing the same point in Washington, Jackson said, “We campaigned across the South . . . without a single catcall or boo. It was not until we got North to New York that we began to hear this from Koch, President Reagan and then Mrs. Ferraro . . . . Some people are making hysteria while I’m making history.”
Updated:
Ferraro “resigned” from the Hillary campaign today. Here’s my question. She “resigned” as an unpaid member of the Clinton finance committee. Does this mean she’s not raising any more money for Hillary? What a crock.
Hardin County teachers in southern Illinois still out.
Members of the Hardin County Education Association meet at the senior center every morning and afternoon after walking the picket line in front of the K-12 school located next door. The 88 members of the HCEA walked out March 4, after negotiations with the school board broke down. Teachers and support staff have been serving the district’s 650 students without a contract since June.
See slide show here.
Ed at AFT and Small Talk on “Bag-O-Glass” Berman.
Ed at AFT joins ed bloggers posting on sleazy Rich Berman’s anti-union PR campaign.
Richard Berman’s Center for Union Facts, using a style that smacks of inebriated college sophomores, has launched yet another series of attacks on unions – this time focusing on us and our friends at the NEA.
And so does Small Talk:
Berman and his group, Center for Union Facts, are useful to more mainstream teacher union bashers like Rick Hess, and Ed Sector’s Andrew (”nothing good rhymes with Andrew”) Rotherham, because they can distance themselves from Berman’s flamboyant style, while still echoing his message.
