Re: Democratic presidential candidates on education

["George K Cunningham" <gkc@louisville.edu>]

Ken,
 
So Vilsack too your advice and opposed NCLB.  Now he is gone.  I wonder why other candidates don't take up this position.
 
What is the difference between those politicians who support NCLB and those who oppose it.  The supporters actually have a chance of being nominated.  Despite what is posted on this listserve, standards based education reform is very popular in this country.  If you want to get elected you need to support it.  This is why nearly every governor support it.  
 
George K. Cunningham
Professor, Ret.

>>> Kenneth Bernstein <kber@earthlink.net> 3/2/2007 11:09 PM >>>
this is in response to Peter's posting.  I know that this will probably bounce except from the main arn-l, as I am not a member of the other lists.

At the Democratic National Committee winter meetings Tom Vilsack had come out against reauthorization of NCLB.  Here I should explain that I have a friendship with Tom that goes back more than 18 months, and we have talked multiple times on education, and I was in the process of helping him develop ideas of alternatives to what the US DOE has been doing when he realized that his campaign was not financially viable and withdrew.

I know from an interview he did a number of years ago with Joshua Micah Marshall that Wes Clark is fairly opposed to the current direction of the US DOE, especially the test-craziness.  I do not know if he will get into the race.  I do know that the grassroots people have to keep arm's length distance from WESPAC, which makes it hard to get clear answers on the general's positions, but there have been several (from New England and Virginia) reaching out to me, in the hope (A) that wes will get in and (b) I might be willing to help with educ policy.


Finally, you may have heard about a group of 10 Democratic senators, led by Feingold (and including Durbin) who have sent a letter seeking major changes in the orientation of NCLB.   A similar letter was sent I believe in the last Congress, but there has been a change in the signatories.  The first letter included Obama as a signatory, the current letter does not.

teacherken  aka ken bernstein

Kenneth J. Bernstein