Yesterday I highlighted a column Juan Gonzalez wrote about Al Sharpton’s joint effort with Joel Klein to promote educational equality, questioning their motives. But Sharpton’s National Action Network conference this morning was a lesson in unity. And to clarify, UFT President Randi Weingarten has worked with Sharpton on educational equity and other issues for a long time. On Edwize, I speak for myself, not Randi or the union. (Thanks to her, Edwize is a space for diverse views.)
Arne Duncan spoke at at the opening session and said a lot of great things about the importance of teachers, about the will to change in education, and about the unity that all of us have to achieve to make change happen.
Sharpton saw Weingarten in the audience and immediately invited her to the speaker’s dais. Duncan talked about the importance of “enlightened union leaders like Randi Weingarten” and Sharpton publicly thanked her for her support in his efforts to close the achievement gap. Both Duncan and Sharpton clearly understand the importance of our union in the fight to change schools and achieve equality.
