Bill Frist says - carefully - that collective bargaining may be a road block to education reform:

Frist chooses his words carefully when describing his stance on collective bargaining. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or SCORE, which he founded, has a steering committee that includes the president of the teachers union.

“Clearly, collective bargaining in the aggregate sense can hold back, can put restrictions, can be a burden and a barrier to educating students well as we compare ourselves to people around the world.”

Frist gives an example of teachers negotiating for shorter school years when they should be longer.

Gera Summerford is president of the Tennessee Education Association and sits on the board of Frist’s group.

“We are portrayed as obstructions of reform. When in fact, if you want reform to be effective, you need to have those who are going to be carrying it out in the classrooms everyday have an ownership and feel like they’re part of the program.”