What Would Albert Shanker Do?

The Achievement Gap is a problem, no doubt. What created it? How to fix it? Does it exist because teachers suck and can't close it? Or, do kids and families suffering from poverty need better health care, early childhood education, AND good teachers? Here is an interesting article that says it's a bit of both.

Money quote:

What Shanker never did, however, was demonize teacher unions or say teachers alone should be held accountable. Oddly missing from the Sharpton/Klein mission statement is any call for student accountability. Why, as Shanker asked, would kids work hard to do well when told: If you fail this test, we won't punish you, but we will punish your teacher? Kids going to selective colleges have a strong incentive to do well, but for the vast majority of students who attend nonselective colleges, or go straight into the work force, doing well academically doesn't really matter that much.