RiShawn Biddle’s spot-on take on the unions’ thrashing about

Here's RiShawn Biddle's spot-on take on the unions' thrashing about:

But what got your editor's attention is the response to the resignation call from both Duncan and the Obama Administration. It was clearly not to the liking of either the NEA or other traditionalists long-opposed to the administration's reform efforts. Duncan simply brushed off the NEA — and actually pointed out the lack of credibility the teachers' union even has among its own rank-and-file membership — when he said that "I always try to stay out of local union politics" and that "I think most teachers do, too". As for the White House? The president's flacks didn't bother to comment at all.

There are certainly some national reporters outside the education beat (along with a few newbies within it) who are finally, belatedly acknowledging what Dropout Nation and others have pointed out for at least the past six years: That neither the NEA nor the American Federation of Teachers can count on the Democratic National Committee for unquestioned support. So the NEA's call for Duncan's resignation is about as newsworthy as the fact that the union's longtime second-in-command, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, was formally anointed as Dennis Van Roekel's successor as its overlord.

At the same time, the NEA's desperate move — along with the Obama Administration's response to it — is noteworthy for this important reason: It epitomizes how far the NEA's influence over education policy (as well as that of the AFT)  has declined at the federal level as well as within states.