Or at least it hit the beltway. Last night I attended a Washington, DC screening of the documentary Climbing to the Crest, produced by the United Federation of Teachers and featuring one of the union's two charter schools in NYC. It was a much smaller affair (and much more subdued) than the big bash the union had last spring to celebrate the innovative new schools.

It was a nice event though, hosted by the AFT. After the film there was a panel discussion featuring UFT President Randi Weingarten, Andy "Eduwonk" Rotherham, and Jim Shelton, of the Gates Foundation.

Not sure what to say, especially since I had a nasty head cold and wasn't seeing/hearing straight. It did seem like there were a bunch of union folks (not to mention a bunch of charter folks) who seemed like they were trying to figure out exactly what they were doing there -- a clear sign that this may be way early stages of any possible relationship building between the two camps, if it is in any stage at all.

But I will add this, since charter school people don't always recognize the smoke signals that the unions sometimes send: When Brenda Mitchell of the United Teachers of New Orleans stands up and says she'd be interested in talking with the charter/philanthropy/foundation world about possibly getting in on the post-Katrina charter school action in the Big Easy, as she did last night, you're supposed to pick up the phone and call her to talk about it. Why not give her a ring?

UPDATE: The Charter Blog wasn't impressed with it, and offers reasons why some may not want to reach out and touch someone.