Has anybody told Obama about the problems his education policies have caused?:

Has anybody told Obama about the problems his education policies have caused?

By Valerie Strauss, Published: May 21, 2013 at 6:00 amE-mail the writer

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White House officials say they didn’t tell President Obama about an impending IRS scandal, and nobody told him the Justice Department secretly subpoenaedreporters’ phone records, and exactly what he knew when about the Benghazi controversy is unclear. This, then, seems like a good time to ask: How much has the president been told about the unfortunate effects his education reform policies are having on public schools?

He’s never given any real indication that he knows the severity of problems teachers and schools are facing.

He’s never, for example, acknowledged that his policies have fueled a high-stakes standardized testing obsession in public education, and then led to a growing national revolt involving students, parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, professors and researchers.

Issues that seem to have barely registered with him — at least as judged from his public posture — include how living in poverty affects student achievement, the increasing 

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