PERCEPTIVE, AS ALWAYS – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  Lost in all the Delaware primary fuss last week was a political convulsion in Washington, D.C. itself.  The reform mayor, Adrian Fenty, was overthrown in the predominantly black city by Council President Vincent Gray, a man said to be closer to the black population.

The key fact in that result is that it may mean the end of school reform in Washington.  Fenty has pushed a thus-far-successful reform effort led by his appointed schools chief, Michelle Rhee.  But Fenty and Rhee apparently "offended" some elements of the city's majority, and certainly offended the teachers' unions.  Michael Barone gives a superb analysis of what happened.  This may have serious implications for other reformers in other cities and states.  From RealClearPolitics:

Four years ago, Fenty carried every precinct in the city. In office, he has drawn national attention for his appointment of Michelle Rhee as school superintendent. Rhee's reforms have produced higher test scores, stable rather than declining enrollment, a teacher evaluations system that has resulted in dismissals of dozens of incompetents and a union contract giving administrators greater flexibility in assignments.

Rhee won national acclaim but antagonized politicians like Gray with deep roots in Washington's black community. Blacks here, as in most large cities, have been more likely than average to work in public sector jobs -- a legacy of the days half a century ago when governments, at least north of the Potomac, didn't discriminate against blacks as many private firms did.

As a result, Gray struck a chord with black voters when he denounced Rhee's teacher layoffs -- the same layoffs that gentry liberals hailed as eliminating bad teachers who hold back children from poor families...

...Gentry liberals and public employee unions were allies in the Obama campaign in 2008. But now they're in a civil war, in city and state politics. This raises the question of whether the Democratic Party favors public employee unions that want more money and less accountability, or gentry liberals and others who care about the quality of public services. Right now, the unions are winning.

COMMENT:  Ah, the gentry liberals.  We know them well.  For years they've had their delicate consciences manipulated by the political left, and now some of them are realizing that they've been backing people who don't produce results.  Barone's excellent analysis may, we stress may, produce real change in the Democratic Party.  On the other hand, gentry liberals, in the end, value their cocktail-party invitations more than their principles, and may just go along with whatever the left wants.

This is well worth reading.  Barone points out that the GOP isn't the only party with growing divisions.

September 20, 2010