When No Child Left Behind was initially enacted, I posted an "open letter to the president" on an online educator forum. In it, I took the position that the goal of leaving no child behind was good (except for the fact that it misused a long-standing mission statement of the Children's Defense Fund); but, that the approach was all wrong.

Critics of public education often blame teacher unions for low-performing schools -- accusing their leaders of resisting reform, defending bad teachers and the status quo.  Fact is, the union leaders with whom I work in the Teacher Union Reform Network have been challenging the status quo for a very long time.

A virtual colleague recommended that I read a chapter by Peter Senge, "Education for an Interdependent World: Developing Systems Citizens."  It is one of 10 chapters by notable systems thinkers in the book: Tracing Connections: Voices of Systems Thinkers. 

I read it this weekend, and experienced feelings of both optimism (about the urgent need for the fundamental changes proposed) and pessimism (about the inertia built into the education system).