Statement of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall:

Rather than miraculous, the gains are similar to those in districts that adopt cost-effective, community-oriented changes like offering universal, high-quality prekindergarten or lowering class sizes.

Education researcher, Doug Harris, on New Orleans reforms:

We are not aware of any other districts that have made such large improvements in such a short time… The [New Orleans achievement] effects are also large compared with other completely different strategies for school improvement, such as class-size reduction and intensive preschool. This seems true even after we account for the higher costs.

The AFT took Doug’s study, interpreted it to mean the exact opposite of what it actually said, and then wrote a press release.

What makes me sad: the AFT represents many of the nation’s best public school science teachers.