A coalition of Democratic school reformers sent a stark, bare-knuckled message to teacher unions Sunday: the days of the party pandering to this particular interest group are over.

During a convention-eve forum hosted by a coalition of local and national education organizations, Democratic mayors, legislators and school officials spoke in no uncertain terms about how, in their view, unions have become a major obstacle to meaningful education reform.

And, they said, radical reform must begin now if the United States is to have a prayer of remaining economically competitive as the 21st century progresses.

For too long, panelists agreed, the Democratic Party has walked in lockstep with the teacher unions, and has shown little will to take them on.

“As Democrats, we have been wrong on education, and it’s time to get right,” said Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker, a rising political star. Booker said he was “practically tarred and feathered” by his local union for even broaching the subject of school choice.

“This is my wildest dream,” Booker said during a panel discussion, looking out at an overflowing Denver Art Museum auditorium. “I never thought I’d see a room full of Democrats interested in doing this (taking on the unions).”

Among those in attendance was National Education Association President Reg Weaver.

The hour-long panel was part of the Ed Challenge for Change  Forum, sponsored by 40 non-profits, schools and foundations. (Disclosure: the Public Education and Business Coalition, publisher of Education News Colorado, was a sponsor, as were several of this site’s funders).

During the panel discussion, Booker, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Colorado State Senate President Peter Groff hammered at unions for putting the needs of adults above those of children. Onerous work rules and heavy-handed political tactics have stymied meaningful change for too long, they said.

“The (American Federation of Teachers) does nothing for the children of  Washington D.C.,” Fenty said. He added that the primary motivating factor of national union presidents seems to be keeping their jobs.

But panelists, particularly Klein and Romer, cautioned that reforming unions, while important, comprises only part of the battle. Romer said the “guts of this problem” is substandard teaching.

Countries with the best educational systems – Romer cited Singapore, Korea and Finland – pay their teachers competitive wages and draw from the top third of university graduates. Low teacher pay in this country results in most teachers coming from the bottom third of university graduates, he said.

“The American people are living in the past in education, and the world has passed us by,” Romer said. He said that as a nation, “we are lying to ourselves” about the state of our educational system.

In cities, Romer said, leaders like Fenty and Booker have figured out the magnitude of the challenge. In suburban communities, he said, people continue to live in a state of denial.  of the problem.

Klein said he favors national standards and national assessments as a way of spurring “a race to the top, not the bottom.” Other panelists said they favored modified versions of national standards, with the work being led by states rather than Congress.

Moderator John Merrow from the Public Broadcasting Service asked what role a new president could play in spurring the needed changes.

“He could provide political cover for those courageous enough to take on the entrenched interests,” said Groff, who pushed through a school innovation bill in this year’s legislative session. “That’s the kind of political courage we have not had in this party.”

At a press conference that preceded the forum, the Rev. Al Sharpton warmed up the crowd with some of his patented fiery rhetoric.

“We have to have the courage to break old, ineffective alliances,” said Sharpton, wagging his finger and raising his voice. “If our parents could stand up to biting dogs in Alabama, we can stand up to special interests in our cities.”

Earlier this year, Sharpton and Klein formed the Education Equality Project, aimed in part at taking on unions and other education special interests. Read an earlier story about that project here.
 

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