In a recent interview with prominent teacher-blogger Larry Ferlazzo, CTQ president and CEO Barnett Berry expressed deep concern over the “near uniform enmity” among journalists and pundits toward traditional teacher education programs and teacher unions. “(T)here is a lot wrong with both preparation programs and teacher unions,” Berry told Ferlazzo. “But their shortcomings are pale when compared to the administrators who seek to silence even the best teachers, the ideological researchers who produce shoddy evidence about what works or doesn’t, and the politicians who make decisions about the best interests of themselves and the lobbyists who influence them, and not about students and the teachers who serve them. I would suggest the pushback against teacher education and unions is more about those who do not want a well-educated professional workforce, filled with empowered teachers who will not necessarily comply with those currently in power.”

Asked by Ferlazzo what he would do if he were Secretary of Education, Berry said he'd begin by creating "a public engagement campaign to promote teaching as a knowledge-based profession. My approach would be on the order of what the federal government did to promote the idea that cigarette smoking was bad for our health. Second, I would develop incentives for P-12 schools, higher education, health and social service providers, and community-based organizations to align resources and programs to serve students and their families. Finally, I would pay for 20,000 highly prepared teachers annually — through the urban teaching residency model — and build a plan for spreading their expertise in and out of cyberspace." Read the complete interview.