Small Advancements in Education Policy

Slate has the story of Democrats turning against teachers' unions:

...Peter Groff, president of the Colorado State Senate, got the ball rolling by complaining that when the children's agenda meets the adult agenda, the "adult agenda wins too often." Then Cory Booker of Newark attacked teachers unions specifically--and there was applause. In a room of 500 people at the Democratic convention!

Bold emphasis is from the author, not me. The article also mentions a call for a national standard for teacher certification instead of state standards, so here is my question: Would national standards for teaching certification be a second-best policy to no standards, or would it be worse than leaving it to the state?

I think it is a second best, but of course I am willing to change if confronted with a good argument. I think the state certification standards play the role of state protectionism, and a national standard would likely be set near the lowest standards state. National certification would actually allow teachers the same mobility that other workers enjoy. Again, this is not as good as eliminating certification altogether, but I think it would represent an improvement.