NCLB Bills Proliferate As Lamar Alexander, John Kline Introduce Education Measures
After Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,introduced his overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act on Tuesday, Republicans have started to get in on the action.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former Secretary of Education and the committee's ranking member, andRep. John Kline (R-Minn.), who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee, have each brought their own visions to the table. Both have a similar partisan theme: fewer regulations.
The bills break most notably with Republicans who preceded them: where the George W. Bush administrationamplified the federal government's role in schools in advocating for No Child, the Kline and Alexander bills would
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former Secretary of Education and the committee's ranking member, andRep. John Kline (R-Minn.), who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee, have each brought their own visions to the table. Both have a similar partisan theme: fewer regulations.
The bills break most notably with Republicans who preceded them: where the George W. Bush administrationamplified the federal government's role in schools in advocating for No Child, the Kline and Alexander bills would
No Child Left Behind Debate, Student Loan Rancor Signal End Of Bipartisanship In Education
Once upon a time, education was a bipartisan issue, even in Washington.
When it came to America's schools -- a point of bombastic rhetoric on the campaign trail -- Democrats and Republicans have historically been willing to set aside their differences and hug it out. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, a law that dramatically increased the federal government's reach into America's schools, illustrated this situation: Republicans, like President George W. Bush, Rep. John Boehner (Ohio) and Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), and Democrats, like Rep. George Miller (Calif.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.), were equally enthusiastic cosponsors.
Over the last few years, even when signs of partisan rancor interfered, education held onto its unique status as an across-the-aisle, hand-shaking issue. Its position was bolstered especially as more and more Democratic politicians, once entirely swayed by teachers' unions on school policy, joined the "education reform movement," a group that is often at odds with labor on how to improve schools and whether to link teacher evaluations to
Margaret Spellings To Take Over George W. Bush Foundation
Margaret Spellings, former President George W. Bush's second Secretary of Education, will take over his foundation and policy institute in September, Spellings told The Huffington Post Thursday.
Spellings already chairs the George W. Bush Institute's education advisory committee, and has been increasing her work there over the last few years. "As the building was being completed and we turned our attention to the programming, it seemed like an interesting opportunity," she said, speaking from the foundation in Dallas shortly before a staff meeting to break the news.
When Spellings was in third grade, her family moved from from Michigan to Texas, but she has spent the last several years in Washington, D.C. While Spellings says all Texans know they eventually wind up back in the Lone Star State, she had some concerns about a big move at this point in her life.
Bush didn't think that was a valid excuse. "'If you think it's hard to move at you're 55, wait till you're 65!'" she
Spellings already chairs the George W. Bush Institute's education advisory committee, and has been increasing her work there over the last few years. "As the building was being completed and we turned our attention to the programming, it seemed like an interesting opportunity," she said, speaking from the foundation in Dallas shortly before a staff meeting to break the news.
When Spellings was in third grade, her family moved from from Michigan to Texas, but she has spent the last several years in Washington, D.C. While Spellings says all Texans know they eventually wind up back in the Lone Star State, she had some concerns about a big move at this point in her life.
Bush didn't think that was a valid excuse. "'If you think it's hard to move at you're 55, wait till you're 65!'" she