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Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the first day of the AFTs' 2011 TEACH (Together Educating America's Children) conference. In addition to inspiring opening remarks by DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (who got the crowd fired up – especially her comment that no one could be madder than she is, the representative of the only district in the nation that Congress has mandated have a school voucher program) and AFT President Randi Weingarten, and attending a conference workshop addressing a theme I’ve discussed many times [Changing the Narrative about Public Schools: Lessons from the Field], I got to hear from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Krugman, who is a professor of economics and international affairs, shared his views on the current state of the American economy. If you are familiar with his work, you might know that he is skeptical of the path we are attempting to take out of the economic recession…and even more skeptical of the path that some are proposing we go down (such as lower taxes and increased deregulation).

I was interested to see how Krugman would target his message for a large audience of unionized teachers…and I came away with some interesting food for thought.

For example, some politicians are portraying public sector workers are greedy, unwilling to sacrifice in tough times like the rest of Americans – and we know that is true because they (as a group) make more than the average American.

Of course, as Krugman put it, local and state governments are essentially school districts with a fire department.* He points out that the reason public sector employees make more than the average American is that most of them are teachers, who are more educated than the average American. Teachers, though, make less than the average person with their same level of education.

Another good one: We hear a lot from some camps about how we need to decrease the power of both labor and government spending (for example, on Medicare and Social Security) in order to increase economic growth.** Those same pundits, though, often cite Canada or Germany, both heavily unionized social welfare states, as examples of nations more competitive than we currently are. Or they point to Sweden as a shining star of the economic recovery…Sweden, where 78% of workers are unionized. A bit of a disconnect there.

In general, Krugman seems convinced that the path we’re on as a country will not win the future. We will, in fact, lose it. Asked to end on a positive note, he pointed out that things are always changing. We thought it was the end of progressivism in 2004, but something changed. Some thought the conservative movement was down and out after 2008, but something changed.

I didn’t think that was a particularly happy ending, but then, the mood around education in general across the country is not particularly happy. That was evident throughout the day - but Krugman was able to offer some hope to the concerns that attendees raised with him.

For example, one attendee questioned the pension crisis we hear about in many states. Krugman pointed to work on issue by Robert Greenstein and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in suggesting that the crisis is in some ways fake. There is a shortfall, but it is not huge, and many of the numbers thrown around were from the bottom of the market, which has since recovered some. He again pointed out an inconsistency in arguments – those who claim that the return estimates are too high for pensions are the same who think we should privatize social security because of the returns in the stock market. And he also pointed out that we could raise taxes – and not by much – to easily meet these obligations.

Another question addressed the notion that our personnel-heavy model of schools is economically obsolete. But Krugman doesn’t think so. He questions the relevance for someone like HIM – a college professor who stands in front of 100+ students to teach economics 101. But he doesn’t foresee replacing the teacher in front of a small class of kids.

Another audience member asked how we can bring back the middle-class, if labor is constantly denigrated. Krugman’s answer was short and sweet: We can’t. We need organized labor. Historically, it has meant increased wages for both union and nonunion workers, as well as an important political counterweight to business interests.

Someone else asked about the effect of education policies that result in the narrowing of the curriculum. He pointed out that people want to run education as a business, looking at measurable metrics (I hear: test scores), which doesn’t even work well in business. It doesn't bode well for winning the future.

So where does this leave us? Ideally, with a renewed sense of what is true about the public sector. And in one way, a feeling of hope. While some critics malign the public sector, other thought leaders (like Krugman) get it.

The next step? Ensuring that those in power get it, too. AFT has launched a new campaign, Elections Matter, to get more people involved in the 2012 election. And there are many other ways to get your voice heard. The important thing: Stand up for what you believe.

*Lest you get concerned that Krugman and I don’t understand all the complexities of state and local governance, please be assured that this is a joke.

**Side note: Krugman emphasized that such policies have failed to create growth in the past, so why would we expect they would in the future?

Disclaimer: AFT is a member of the Learning First Alliance and I attended the conference as their guest.