In a speech before the Citizens' Committee for the Children of New York, NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sharply criticized the teachers union contract. "Schools will never work because they're governed by a 250-page contract and a 10,000-page book of regulations," thundered Klein. Klein's comments come in advance of negotiations with the union which represents 80,000 teachers.

UFT president Randi Weingarten, who had previously signaled a willingness to reduce regulations, opined through her spokesman that these criticisms amount to nothing more than "a traditional management strategy."

Klein, however, sounded a fairly substantive note when he condemned seniority rights, tenure, and the single salary scale as "the three pillars of non-meritocracy."