A pro-ed-reform president would cure the blue-state blues
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The article references the 'nearly a quarter century of bipartisan support for education reform' spanning Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies. The No Child Left Behind Act was the signature education reform of this era, representing the peak of bipartisan federal education policy that the article argues Democrats should return to.
Happy Giving Tuesday, education peeps. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.
Today I turn over SCHOOLED to Ben Austin, who makes the case for Democrats to embrace education reform again, both because it’s good for kids but also because it’s good for winning elections. Then I round up the edu-opinions from the past week, including those from Crystal McQueen-Taylor, Dan Buck, Anna Low, Robert Pondiscio, Ashley Berner, Rick Hess, Marc Porter Magee, Sharif El-Mekki, Heather Kirkpatrick, Lindsey Henderson, and Dave Kung. And Christine Toribio Pitts offers her perspective on the blue-state debate from her perch in Oregon.
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It probably feels like an eternity, but two weeks ago I teed up a debate about whether blue state education reform is hopeless. Last week, several folks argued that it’s not, for five reasons, including the teachers unions’ openness to some important reforms and the feasibility of making change via regulatory agencies.
Now Ben Austin adds his voice to the conversation, arguing that Presidents Clinton and Obama proved that education reform could be a winning issue for Democrats. I agree and would add that those presidents made it easier for Democrats at the state and local levels to embrace ed reform, too, and harder for the teachers unions to oppose it whole hog. I see no reason why that couldn’t be the case again—if an ed reformer won the presidency in 2028. As Dale Chu wrote a few months ago, maybe the country needs an Ed in ’28 campaign!
Those of us reformers on the right should remember that presidential leadership—and an aggressive federal role—has been a force for good in the past and could be again. Maybe red states don’t need the political cover from Washington, but blue states certainly do. Something to remember as the dismembering of the Department of Education continues apace, and as we wonks respond to Treasury’s plans for regulating the new federal tax credit scholarship program (released last week).
Without further ado, take it away, Ben!
Ben Austin:
...Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Mike Petrilli recently posed an existential question for education advocacy that needed to be asked out loud: Is blue state education reform dead?
I agree that it’s currently on a trajectory to
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