Who Will Bill Thompson Turn On?

The Wall Street Journal looks at the broad coalition of supporters mayoral candidate Bill Thompson enjoys - from Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch and some in the corporate education reform and charter school movement to Randi Weingarten and the UFT - and asks which one of those groups Thompson eventually screws.

A teacher in the article really gets to the crux of the conundrum for me:

Ben Wides, a Manhattan high-school history teacher, is leaning toward supporting Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. He said the role of Ms. Tisch, who launched more rigorous standardized tests that angered teachers, in the Thompson campaign gives him pause.

"As a teacher it makes me suspicious, very suspicious of Bill Thompson," he said. "I don't understand how someone could have Merryl Tisch as their campaign chair—who has been pushing relentlessly the implementation of these state tests that UFT members myself included have been very upset about—and then say that he's going to represent the interests of the union."

With Tisch as his co-chair, Al D'amato as one of his chief campaign bundlers, and a host of charter school and education reform types meeting Thompson in the Tisch Family rec room to hear assurances from Thompson that little will change under his administration, I don't think there is any doubt which group Thompson will continue to support and which group he will turn on.

You can bet that Thompson will not turn his back on his wealthy charter school/education reform supporters - not with the kind of cash they'll pony up to him to keep the reform train going.