It took less than 24 hours for several major papers to go on record as seeing exciting possibilities in the California schools court decision against teachers unions. Clearly, people have long understood the NEA and AFT were the problem but believed them so politically entrenched as to be untouchable.
With the anti-tenure decision in CA, the dam has broken. Here comes the flood of "oh, boy, imagine the possibilities for educational reform" stories from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, and the New York Daily News.
I have to ask: where were these omniscient voices yesterday? Yesterday they knew the system was broken but believed no political solution possible. Aren't we fortunate the people who supported the case didn't feel equally helpless?
Part of the genius of the political system bequeathed us by our founders is that the courts are sometimes able to move us beyond gridlock when politics has us stymied, when the political momentum to make needed changes doesn't exist. Brown v. Board of Education is a prime example; perhaps this CA case will be another such cultural landmark.
