New York Times Column Highlights the Groundbreaking Collaborative Education Reform Efforts in New Haven, Conn.

2/17/2012

In his New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof calls the New Haven efforts “jaw-dropping” and writes that “New Haven has arguably become ground zero for school reform in America because it is transforming the system with the full cooperation of the union.”

He goes on to detail the efforts in New Haven, which have brought union and school district officials together in implementing a new teacher development and evaluation system focused on continuous development and improvement for teachers, setting high standards and goals, and collaborating to achieve them.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, a key partner in the reform effort, says that “the breakthrough isn’t so much that poor teachers are being eased out, but that feedback is making everyone perform better—principals included.”

Kristof touts the effort as a new model for how districts and unions can work together to focus on improving teaching and learning in our classrooms, and how we should be approaching education reform across the country. 

“The breakthrough experiment in New Haven offers a glimpse of an education future that is less rancorous,” writes Kristof. “It’s a tribute to the savvy of Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and as shrewd a union leader as any I’ve seen.”

You can read the full column here.