01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, February 9, 2005

I am writing in response to the Jan. 26 Commentary piece "No teacher left behind: Absolute union power hurts children," by Terry Moe.

Initially, I was appalled by what Susan Ohanian, winner of the 2003 National Council of Teachers of English's George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, calls on her Web site "Moe['s] intent [to] keep teachers underpaid, unrepresented, and with no limit on class size."

Dr. Moe indeed has some impressive credentials, but a quick visit to the Hoover Institution's home page betrays his political affiliations. Emblazoned on the front page is a photograph of Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution and new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. No wonder Dr. Moe is so quick to praise the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act as a "serious form of school accountability" -- despite widespread criticism of the act, including charges such as: a lack of evidence for change strategies, too much focus on narrow curriculum, inadequate funding, too little focus on social causes of poor performance, and a violation of states' rights.

Dr. Moe's suggestion that teachers' unions are somehow less interested in the education of children than the administrators who fund the schools is appalling and inaccurate. Of course unions must take a hard line in order to secure certain rights for their members, but, as Ms. Ohanian says, "positing teachers' need for a living wage and adequate working conditions as proof of their disinterest in what's good for children is one more page in the corporate-politico agenda of deprofessionalizing teaching and gutting public education."

Time and time again, we hear about how important it is to educate our children, yet any time a financial dispute arises, the teachers are the ones who bear the brunt of the public disdain. It's time we stop vilifying the people who provide us with this valuable service, and turn our wrath to the companies that seek to profit from this conflict.

Finally, I consider the fact that your publication failed to disclose Dr. Moe's political affiliations to be irresponsible on your part. Your readers have the right to know exactly whose opinion is being presented.

JEFF WALKER

East Providence

The writer is an adjunct instructor at Rhode Island College and Roger Williams University.

Mr. Moe was identified as "a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution" at the end of the article.