Klein and the gang use King holiday to attack unions

Klein, Sharpton, Rhee, McCain, and their whole EEP crowd of hedge-fund school reformers were there. Klein called the pre-inauguration meeting supposedly to celebrate King Day, but really to prepare his troops for the coming battle with the Bolder, Broader policy group as they vie for Obama's ear on education.

Can you imagine Dr. King's name being used to attack unions? Reminds me of charter school operators who name schools after Cesar Chavez and then ban teachers from bargaining collectively.

The EEP group targets teacher unions and collective bargaining rights as the number-one problem in public education. Their strategy is built around privatized management of charter schools which are replacing hundreds of closed neighborhood schools. D.C. Supt. Rhee has become their main attack dog. New Ed Sec. Arne Duncan showed up, of course.

Rhee barked. Some in the audience booed, writes Dana Goldstein at TAPPED:

When Rhee said, "There are a lot of people who benefit from our system being dysfunctional," a few voices raised in the crowd, booing. "That's not true!" a woman shouted. But Rhee continued, referring obliquely to her long-running contract dispute with the Washington Teachers' Union over merit pay and tenure. "People who keep their jobs. People who keep their contracts."

Rhee should know. She's the one handing out the jobs and contracts.