Gates Foundation looking to make nice with teachers is a fascinating article in The Seattle Times about what might be a key turning point in “school reform.” Here’s an excerpt:

What’s clear: the foundation wants teachers’ help more than ever before.

“We get that moving this work forward without them will not be sustainable,” Scott [from Gates) said recently. “It won’t be owned by teachers, and when our investments go away, so will the effort.

“That’s why there is so much urgency in engaging them directly.”

There are other quotes in the article that raise questions about their sincerity, and there have certainly been recent actions that raise those same reservations.

Nevertheless, I don’t really care if their motives are solely pragmatic or a genuine rethinking of their policies themselves. It’s also not important to me if they acknowledge their past mistakes.

There is only one thing that’s key, and it’s what they do now and in the future.