LISTEN TO CHRIS BERGFALK AND JIM LYONS HERE:
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Pete Tucker, Chris Bergfalk and Jim Lyons
Jim Lyons and Chris Bergfalk joined host Pete Tucker for a discussion on the so-called “school reform” efforts of DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the opening of the movie “Waiting for Superman,” in which Rhee plays a starring role.
Jim Lyons is a civil rights policy attorney in Arlington, Virginia. He is a formers staff member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and served in the newly created Department of Education under President Jimmy Carter. For 16 years he was a lobbyist for and then executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education.
Chris Bergfalk is a District of Columbia Public Schools teacher, as well as a candidate for president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. He testified several times before the D.C. Council about the widening of D.C.’s already enormous achievement gap under Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty. Chris Bergfalk was recently named a “Highly Effective Educator” by the controversial IMPACT evaluations, but he may be declining the “bonus” that goes along with the award.