Bill Gates' speech to teachers union builds dialogue for education reform

BILL Gates' recent appearance before one of the nation's largest teachers unions, coupled with the standing ovations the Microsoft co-founder's remarks garnered, should demonstrate to teachers the inclusiveness of education reform.

Gates' speech at the American Federation of Teachers convention in Seattle was important outreach at a time when billions of education-reform dollars and critical policies are at stake. The 1.4 million-member AFT, along with its much larger sibling, the National Education Association, have been obstructionists toward efforts to instill academic rigor and accountability in schools.

Until recently, the AFT opposed evaluating teachers partly based on student achievement — an opposition that always begs the question: What should teacher performance be based on?

The teachers unions have consistently blocked efforts to make it easier to terminate poor-performing teachers, a long-standing battle that has resulted in few teachers ever fired for nonperformance.

If change is slowly coming, Gates' presence and enthusiastic reception by 3,400 AFT conference attendees is a welcome sign.

Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has targeted half a billion dollars to improve public schools. He correctly told teachers they must be partners in these efforts.

We have always urged teachers to stop complaining about reform and get to the table drafting what improvements and new policies should look like. No one has better insight into how to drive student performance than teachers. Teachers should also understand more than anyone the devastating impact of a bad teacher on student performance.

None of this means the unions' obstructionist efforts should be tolerated in order to get their support for reforms. Cooperation is a two-way street. Gates' dialogue with the AFT is an important start.