Education Policy: Linchpin or Afterthought?
While reading a glowing profile of White House Domestic Policy Chief Melody Barnes and her efforts to make education policy the "linchpin" between economic and other domestic policies, I came across a passage so unexpected that I literally chortled (or maybe snorted):
Barnes supported the Education Department's decision to award large grants to only two states in its "Race to the Top" innovation competition, despite enormous political pressure to include more.
"Melody's so nice and polite, but she's got a backbone of steel," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
And as the White House put the final touches on the health-care law last year, Barnes stood up against
