President Barack Obama’s brewing fight with teachers unions over his plans to overhaul education legislation could end up being a political trifecta for liberal Democrats, Republicans and a president eager to demonstrate he can work across party lines.
Obama has signaled that he wants a rewrite of No Child Left Behind on his desk this year—and proposed a $1 billion bonus for education should that happen.The push to pass the legislation could scramble the political desks, with benefits to all sides.
Progressives could take on Obama and side with the powerful teachers unions, traditionally staunchly aligned with Democrats, who have harshly criticized Obama for what they see as a test-heavy approach to education that puts an undue burden on teachers.
At the same time, those no votes would be unlikely to derail the legislation, since Republicans, eager to shed the “party of no” label, could support Obama and go back to their home districts with a popular domestic issue to run on.
As for Obama, a rewrite of No Child Left Behind on his desk would let him claim a bipartisan legislative win, something that has so far eluded his administration on other domestic issues like health care and climate change legislation.
“Generally speaking, this is something that the majority of everybody would look forward to voting on and immediately send out the press release,” said Rich Galen, a Republican strategist. “For the majority and for most parents, they want more help to get their kids educated, not some theoretical argument.”
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has emerged as one of the few stars in Obama’s cabinet, spent the weekend on a listening tour in Iowa with Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the Senate leader on education legislation.
Congress will begin hearings this week on Obama’s approach to education, which will officially be submitted Monday as a 41-page “blueprint” on NCLB, the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was originally passed in 1965. In addition to the $1 billion bonus for passage this year, Obama’s budget proposal calls for a $3 billion boost to the education budget, with most of the new money going to competitive grants for states, districts and schools that align themselves with the administration’s new approach.
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