Union organizing and what kids really need

Very interesting editorial in yesterday's Boston Globe on Governor Patrick and Mayor Menino's moves toward stripping teachers of collective bargaining rights (am I alone in having missed this? If you're reading this and know more, please comment!). The link between unionized teachers and poorly performing children being....nonexistent, Ed Doherty, formerly of the Boston Teachers Union, goes on to what really would help kids to better:

The first step is to accept that if we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we must begin to help long before these children arrive for the first day of school. The beginning point is adequate prenatal care for mothers, followed by information and training for parents on fostering their children’s good health and social and intellectual growth from birth. The period from birth to age 5 is critical in determining a child’s long -range educational success.

Most parents want to do the right thing for their children, but far too many simply do not know how. This outreach and involvement with parents in the poorest communities will require the coordinated efforts of social service agencies, neighborhood health clinics, community organizations, and schools.

The next step is assuring these children access to quality day care and early education programs, followed by mandatory all-day kindergarten. Once in school, children from these poorer neighborhoods should be guaranteed small class size, adequate materials and resources, a longer school day, and quality before- and after-school programs.

It's remarkable how much this sounds like the Harlem Children's Zone as put together by Geoffrey Canada. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I wish this administration was doing more to create more models of that and doing less with the proposals under Race to the Top. We know what works. We just aren't doing it.