Gary Orfield And The NEA

It's no secret that the NEA is opposed to NCLB -- and not much of one that the union funds lots of research that also happens to come out against NCLB. Most organizations and reports indicate their funding sources on their websites or in their work. In that sense, today's Ed Sector report (Echo Chamber) reminds me of Ben Feller's AP articles on the "secret" AYP loophole states were using to game NCLB.

But still, Joe Williams' report includes lots of juicy details. Most of all, it's interesting to be reminded that some of Gary Orfield's work at the Harvard Civil Rights Project has been NEA funded -- given the NEA's reputation as a white suburban status quo protector and Orfield's ultra progressive background.

Talk about strange bedfellows. What's next, NEA funding for the much-anticipated Kozol initiative? Orfield is quoted in Greg Toppo's USA Today piece that "The test of research is not whether or not it is funded by someone, but whether it is true and the evidence supports the conclusions."

UPDATE: Unable to restrain himself against the steady stream of insults and elbows, Zidane AFT John turns and viciously head-butts Materazzi the Ed Sector (Stealth Anti-Union Campaign Says NEA Has Stealth Anti-NCLB Campaign).