It’s been a good month for education labor in New York City.
First there was the announcement of an important new merit pay plan supported by both the district administration and the United Federation of Teachers. Now, as reported in the New York Times, “In the largest successful organizing drive in New York City in half a century, 28,000 child care providers will join the city’s teachers’ union as the result of an overwhelmingly pro-union vote.”
This strikes me as good news all around. For the child care workers surely, who are currently paid less than $20,000 a year on average, often without health care and other benefits. But also for parents, children, and society at large. The transition to an economy where women are becoming fully engaged in the workplace has been, in historical terms, remarkably rapid. We’re still catching up on the long-term ramifications, one of which is the need for a much more robust, high-quality child care infrastructure. And an important part of that is making sure that child care workers are well-supported, trained, represented, and compensated.
Kevin Carey appeared on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" to talk about the education proposals put forth during Wednesday’s State of the Union speech, including endowments, student loans, college prices and No Child Left Behind. He also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications.
Andrew Rotherham is featured in CBS's "Where America Stands," a news special on the current state of the nation's schools.
College and Career-Ready: Using Outcomes Data to Hold High Schools Accountable for Student Success
Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design 
01/28/10 | Education Sector is referenced and linked to in an article on AnnArbor.com.
01/28/10 | Andrew Rotherham is mentioned in a National Review Online column.
01/26/10 | Andrew Rotherham is quoted in an Education Week news article on President Obama's proposed education spending.
01/25/10 | Chad Aldeman's "College- and Career-Ready" is summarized in the Alliance for Excellence in Education's Straight A's newsletter.
01/21/10 | Chad Aldeman's "College- and Career-Ready" is reviewed by College Summit's blog.
01/22/10 | Ben Miller's Q&E post on student debt is linked to on the California Watch blog.