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By Megan Morrissey

When I walked down the halls of Achievement Prep. Elementary School last Friday, it became immediately apparent that the standards at this school are extremely high for both faculty and scholars.

At Achievement Prep, the primary expectation is that scholars WILL go on to college. One of the first words that the kindergarteners learn when they arrive is “college.” College banners line the halls. Each classroom is named after the head teacher’s alma mater. I even walked by a bulletin board showcasing scholars’ pictures with the titles “Master’s degree” and “PhD” underneath to show they demonstrated proficiency in a particular academic area.

While observing three kindergarten and first grade classrooms on a guided tour, I was surprised, and very impressed, regarding the efficiency with which classrooms were run. There were at least two teachers present in each classroom, and the pace of instruction was fast and focused.

Scholars were split into small groups, and constantly switching activities to stay sharp during their long school day. Even during activity transitions, scholars had to get settled in a matter of seconds, all the while singing a song and cheering on their classmates to behave. Some groups were doing “Show What You Know” quizzes with their teachers while others were on computers playing interactive games. I walked over to one group and was astonished to overhear scholars learning about poetry and getting quizzed on the word “stanza.”

Shantelle Wright, Founder and CEO of Achievement Prep, explained that educators have to hold their scholars to very high standards so they can measure up academically with other students across the country. Educators know scholars can achieve, therefore, it is up to them to set a high bar. Ms. Wright also explained the sense of urgency in each classroom. Realizing scholars were too

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Wednesday afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute, Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, participated in a conversation on the role of teachers unions in public education. The event started with an introduction from Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at AEI, and then Weingarten followed up with a keynote speech. The event concluded with a “conversation” between Hess and Weingarten and a Q&A with the audience.

Prior to becoming AFT President, Weingarten was an attorney, a teacher at Clara Barton High School, and President of the NYC teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers. She referenced her background as a teacher during the discussion: commenting on the excitement that her students experienced when they excelled.

Weingarten spoke on a variety of issues, ranging from the Vergara v. California decision, to Common Core debates, even to the new contracts for New York City teachers. Throughout the discussion, Weingarten returned to the idea that the current focus of public discourse is not conducive to improving education in public schools. She stated that she would not take part in the conversation concerning the validity of the existence of teachers unions. Instead of focusing on the contemporary value of unions, she deflected the attention stating, “All that energy that’s being used to argue about that is not being devoted to actually help children succeed.” Whereas Weingarten did mention a few successful AFT initiatives and partnerships, she did so with the assumption that she was delivering a huge “surprise” on the audience. She used the lack of knowledge of AFT’s current initiatives to support the idea that the argument over union relevance is unsubstantiated and irrelevant.

When it comes to unions’ roles in public education, it seems that Weingarten’s answer is that a collaborative effort between all stakeholders is necessary.

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