Two months ago, the NY Daily News covered how Randi and Mike Mulgrew had very different views (at least publicly) on what was going on in LA:

The L.A. teachers union leader predictably said, more or less, "Over our dead body" and is organizing what he calls a "massive boycott" of the paper.

A more enlightened educator, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, says parents have a right to know how effective teachers are: "What is there to hide?"

Amen. And here's the beauty part: Randi Weingarten, who once led the city's United Federation of Teachers - and now heads the national American Federation of Teachers - is siding with Duncan. She told the paper that parents have a right to know how well their children's teachers are rated on appropriate employee evaluations.

Now, she's not for the newspaper releasing that information to the general public, but she does want it to get into the hands of principals, and moms and dads.

Where does her successor at the UFT stand? A Mulgrew press aide issued this statement:

"The recent debacle around state test scores in New York makes it obvious that relying on test scores to make high-stakes decisions about students or teachers is a bad idea. Parents and teachers expect much more of their children's education than standardized tests."

Asked to be more responsive as to whether Mulgrew agrees or disagrees with Weingarten's position on transparency, the spokesman responded: "Our statement is our statement."

And obstinacy is New York's problem.

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