American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten will be giving her opening keynote in just a short while. But before we get to that, here are a couple of guiding questions to pay attention to over the course of this convention.
• What will AFT delegates’ reaction be to recent education developments, like the Race to the Top? What do they make of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who was the source of ire for National Education Association delegates earlier this week?
• The AFT’s Innovation Fund will announce its new grantees this Saturday. Who will the new grantees be?
• President Weingarten has taken some courageous stances on things like the use of test scores in evaluation. Some locals have followed suit in newly inked contracts. But are all local affiliates on the same page as Weingarten?
• What’s the next step for AFT leaders in places like Pittsburgh and New Haven, Conn., as they roll out and implement new evaluation systems?
• The convention features a presentation by Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. How will it be received by delegates?
Teacher Beat will keep you in the loop.