In quest to be atypical, Weingarten will give "provocative" speech

Randi Weingarten, the teachers union president, hopes to be known as an unconventional labor leader. She will be sending that signal strongly on Monday, in a speech at the National Press Club that she is hyping as a big deal — both to reporters and to D.C. education insiders. Mayor Bloomberg is introducing her speech, which is titled, “Making the Right Choices for Education and the Economy.”

Janet Bass, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Teachers, the national union that Weingarten recently became president of (she’s holding onto her local New York City presidency too), told me that the speech will be “provocative”:

She’s going to be talking about provocative ways — interesting, unconventional ways — to improve schools and student achievement, and will be putting forth some recommendations that some people would not think are typical of a teachers union.