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There's a reason why Ms. Moskovitz didn't specify which work rules she thinks are such problems: to do so would be a losing argument for her.

1) Tenure is not a union contract thing. Tenure for New York teachers goes back to 1917, and the union contracts go back less than 50 years. Abolish the contract and tenure will still exist, because it is a product of state law.

2) Using seniority to make decisions in schools predates the contracts, too. It has been common in large organizations, whether that's a good or bad thing. Furthermore, it is used in the airline industry, both for pilots and for flight attendants, and no one claims that it prevents the airlines from being safe or efficient.

3) The common salary scale -- based on years of experience and education -- also predates the contracts by decades.

Blaming union contracts or teachers' unions for management practices that they did not invent or insist upon either is a political ploy or displays enormous ignorance of the very matters that Ms. Moskovitz claims to be so expert.

These arguments always end up blaming the poor and people of color, and the arguments always hide by comments like "it is not about race"!!!

I am a union member. I have two children attending a charter school in Queens which received its charter in 2001. The parents, teachers and community members who formed the school decided to employ UFT members and the school is thriving almost 10 years on. You do not have to squeeze unions out of schools to be a success. The middle class is under attack and union membership is one of the ways to maintain our ground

It is my understanding the charter schools are able to remove students who misbehave much more easily than a public school can. These students then end up in higher concentrations in the public schools. Is this impression correct?

when are we going to come to the realization that the deciding factor that makes a school a good or bad one is the family of the students? teachers can only do so much. if the parents are interested and concerned about their children and their education, then the school will function properly. this has nothing to do with race, economic status but parental involvment.

I support charter schools. I've done work with New York Cares at charter schools and have been really impressed, but I think there is a danger in looking at existing charter schools and seeing how the whole system could be. If all schools were charter schools, there'd be mismanagement, apathy and students who are going to be a disruption that the schools will have to admit just like in bad public schools. Given this inevitable outcome, it's a marginally better solution rather than a transformative shift.

The Daily News has a good perspective on this issue.

Seems more like more of a power grab by Bloomberg !!

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/03/19/2009-03-19_charter_school_principals_mobilize_paren.html