Should Congress Delay Reauthorization Of The Elementary And Secondary Ed Act?
The prospects for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year are increasingly dim. With climate change, financial regulatory reform, a Supreme Court nominee, November elections and fallout from the BP oil spill on lawmakers' minds, little legislative bandwidth remains to be used elsewhere. Not to mention that congressional leaders with jurisdiction over education are currently focused on finding a way to advance a $23 billion education jobs bill intended to avert hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs.
To create the best law possible, should Congress delay further work on ESEA reauthorization to 2011, when the legislative agenda will be less crowded? Is there concern that progress made during 2010 ESEA hearings will be lost if the bill isn't acted upon this session?
-- Eliza Krigman, NationalJournal.com
