Per the below item, a reader writes:
Dear Eduwonk -As you know, I share Ted Sizer’s passion for school choice and applaud his attempt at reclaiming that banner for Progressives, where it began.
Sizer teaches at Brandeis, as does one Robert Reich. Reich once wrote an influential “supersized and means-tested” pro-voucher WSJ op-ed in 1990s. When he ran for MA governor in 2002, however, he not only disavowed it, he went whole hog teachers-union – i.e., use code words to signal that charters were a no-go for him, too.
It was a Howard Dean preview: pragmatic, often moderate but innovative and super-bright Dem tilts left to grab the low-hanging fruit of educated NPR listening activists and the accompanying early surge, but loses the moderates – and the nomination – in the process.
I’d be intrigued to sound out Reich about this issue today.
Eduwonk would, too, though he disagreed with the op-ed and, if memory serves, it was basically a rip-off of Jack Coons and Stephen Sugarman with no credit to either of them.