Leadership Issues Could Cloud Federal K-12 Picture
Congress and the Obama Administration Confront a Lengthy To-Do List on Education
The one-two punch of turnover in the top leadership of Congress and the U.S. Department of Education complicates the prospects for completing unfinished business on the federal K-12 policy agenda.
As both Speaker of the House John A. Boehner and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan prepare to step down, the inevitable uncertainty during such transitions further unsettles the outlook for an Elementary and Secondary Education Act overhaul and for any new regulatory moves by the Obama administration.
With or without Duncan at the helm, it's unclear just how much political juice the Education Department has left to work its policy will on states.
Unlike its first years in office, when the administration was flush with one-time education funding under the federal economic-stimulus package, the department doesn't have much money left to entice states to adopt its priorities through competitive grants.
Hot Seat
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has announced his resignation effective in December, is the ninth secretary to helm the U.S. Department of Education since its birth as a cabinet-level department in 1980. Here’s a list of those who have served as secretary and the presidents who appointed them.
Shirley M. Hufstedler: 1980-1981 (President Jimmy Carter)
Terrel H. Bell: 1981-1985 (President Ronald Reagan)
William J. Bennett: 1985-1988 (Reagan)
Lauro F. Cavazos: 1988-1990 (Reagan/President George H.W. Bush)
Lamar Alexander: 1991-1993 (President George H.W. Bush)
Richard W. Riley: 1993-2001 (President Bill Clinton)
Rod Paige: 2001-2005 (President George W. Bush)
Margaret Spellings: 2005-2009 (President George W. Bush)
Arne Duncan: 2009- (President Barack Obama)
And it seems reluctant to drop the hammer on states to drive policy—for instance, by withholding aid or pulling a state's waiver from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, the ESEA's current version.
"What's in their toolbox?" said Terry Holliday, a former Kentucky commissioner of education.
And he doesn't think John B. King Jr., the former New York state schools chief who will serve as acting secretary after Duncan leaves in December, is a throw-thunderbolts-from-Washington kind of guy.
"I don't think John King will have the desire to really create a lot of mandates on states," Holliday said. "I think having been a former chief helps, and I think he'll try to work with states to honor their work over the last several years."
That power drain is typical for the end of any administration and would likely have happened even if Duncan, who came in with President Barack Obama in 2009, had stuck it out until the end.
As an administration draws to a close, "essentially you're trying to keep the policies and practices and pushing hard in places as much as possible," said Sandy Kress, who served in the White House during President George W. Bush's tenure.
"And you maybe try to repair and restore where there may be some ill will," Kress said. "You keep one eye on the Hill, and the other eye is simply trying to keep the machinery running. You want to end on as good a note as you can."
ESEA Pending
The most obvious outstanding piece of business for the administration: reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
It looked as if this was finally going to be the year for the rewrite, which has been stalled since 2007. Over the summer, the Senate passed a bipartisan revision of the law, and the House passed one with Republican support only.
Both bills would take aim at the administration's priorities—including teacher evaluation based in part on student outcomes—and both would quash the education secretary's power to dictate details of state accountability systems
The bills' sponsors and the White House appear eager to get ESEA reauthorization completed, and congressional and administration aides are said to be working feverishly, with an eye to finishing the bill this fall. But lawmakers face a crowded legislative calendar, including a pending fight over lifting the federal debt ceiling.
And the administration and congressional Republicans are searching for the sweet spot when it comes to accountability: The administration has made it clear that neither bill does enough, in its view, to prod states to look out for low-performing schools and students.
Plus, the news of Duncan's plans to leave his job came on the heels of another blockbuster resignation: Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is the House speaker and was an architect of the No Child Left Behind law, announced in late September that hewould step down at the end of October.
But as of late last week, it was unclear exactly who would take his place. Meanwhile, Boehner said he would stay until a new speaker is in place, potentially giving ESEA negotiators time to pass a bill under his leadership.
What's more, over the summer, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the House education committee and the author of the chamber's bill to rewrite the ESEA, Leadership Issues Could Cloud Federal K-12 Picture - Education Week:
