Dennis Kelly has the stage

How cool. Yesterday I asked a hypothetical question about 'what would Dennis think?' and lo and behold, we have his response!

Dear KC,

Thanks for asking.

Barack Obama with Dennis Kelly
and Linda Plack of the UESF

MSNBC may be right that there was no audible booing in that immense Philadelphia hall, but there certainly was a buzz. The impression I had when Barack Obama spoke was that he recognizes the need to raise salaries and is groping for a way to do it.

The context of the presentation made it clear that Obama is not calling for merit pay in the traditional, conservative sense that we know it, and is looking for ways to work with teachers. When Linda Plack and I met with him in June at a Labor Council gathering, we had asked him about how he intended to “invest in education”. He made a commitment at that time that he wanted to institute a program to raise the base salary of teachers. (Biden spoke this week about the same concern and about sponsoring legislation similar to his law enforcement legislation that called for appropriations to pay more and bring more people onto the job.)

If his comments this week were intended as a “conscious break” with other candidates, it was not seen that way. As with much of what the Illinois Senator presents, there is a sense that there has been insufficient staff work to polish the presentations.

In unity,

Dennis Kelly

Hey, polish is overrated in my book. Unvarnished sounds like a refreshing change. Thanks Dennis.