Friday, February 29, 2008  Randi Weingarten  Randi Weingarten
gave the keynote address at a conference on performance
incentives here last night. If you're thinking that it's odd for
the head of a large teacher's union to be addressing a roomful
of education economists you are correct. She essentially walked
into the lion's den, confronted the lions, and lived to tell the
tale. Whether you agree or disagree with her politics, you have
to be impressed with her moxy.  My previous experience with
Randi was limited to newsclips of her leading rallies, so I was
pleasantly surprised by both the mechanics and the substance of
her speech. She focused on two issues: bridging ideological
divides to focus on what helps children (which, depending on
your ideology, is either highly ironic or very fitting for a
union head to say) and incorporating teachers in all reforms.
She argued that the start of a pilot incentives program has gone
smoothly in NYC because teachers had a role in its creation and
management and because t