Mayor, UFT Head Getting Cozy; Whither Education Reform?

If you've read today Wayne Barrett story on Mayor Bloomberg's tendency to cut deals with the teacher's union, and why (if he's serious about school reform) he should cut it out, you may be interested in what PolitickerNY's Jason Horowitz reports about Bloomberg's mayoral control renewal campaign: he's "acting like a politician" to save it, playing well with legislators and councilmembers rather than being his usual prickly self. He also says Randi Weingarten's UFT has "begun to make conciliatory noises about the mayor's leadership," which the Daily News has also noticed. Will this love-fest preclude the tough dealing Barrett endorses? Meanwhile, also at PolitickerNY, a major figure in Barrett's story, education reformer and charter school head Eva Moskowitz, holds her hard line against the teacher's union. "The UFT is trying to put us six feet under," she says, and hints she may run for mayor in 2013 "on a platform of education reform."

If you haven't read Barrett's story, you should do so now.