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By Ethan Gray, Be the Change, Inc. on Friday, January 11, 2008

Ted Kennedy celebrated the 6th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by writing an op-ed in this past Sunday's Washington Post arguing why the act needs to be reauthorized this year. Eduwonk Andy Rotherham has a good take and suggests that Kennedy just might have a shot at getting the albatross through this year (Full Disc: I used to work at Education Sector, co-founded by eduwonk). In his op-ed, the venerable senator reaches out to critics and proponents of the law alike; proponents will appreciate the reform minded shout-outs to using growth models to measure student achievement, as well as differentiated consequences for schools in varying need of improvement. Critics—though disappointed he doesn’t want to scrap it all together—will appreciate his call for increased funding, smaller class sizes, and removing incentives to teach to the test by broadening the array of tools LEA's use to evaluate schools. But neither proponents nor critics have been pleased of late by the attention the issue has received on the campaign trails. That's because it hasn't really gotten any at all.

Part of the reason there is little real debate about NCLB is because Iowa and New Hampshire are homogeneous states that have basically no urban centers or high concentrations of minorities in poverty—the key districts and demographics NCLB was designed to help. Another reason is that it’s just not as sexy of a policy area compared to health care, global warming, and Iraq (for Dems) or the war on terror, immigration, and taxes (for Repubs).

But even when the candidates do talk about NCLB, they contort themselves into pretzels praising the intent while trying to get distance at the same time. As Kevin Carey notes, the Dems are stuck between a rock and a hard place; the rock is the overwhelming antipathy most primary voters feel towards NCLB, and the hard place is the fact that all of the candidates basically support the underlying impulse of the law but can't really say so without offending their base.

For example, Hillary recently noted in a town hall meeting in New Hampshire that she'd scrap the law. Richardson said that all the time, too—before he dropped out. But she's pro-accountability (as is he) and would likely replace NCLB with something different in name (and without the associated stigma) but with many of the same fundamental goals and approaches.

This is true for almost all of the major party candidates. A cursory glance at campaign websites shows that all of the candidates on the left and right believe in some version of the NCLB-ish accountability bargain—more money for greater accountability improving student achievement.* There’s one noteworthy exception: John McCain doesn’t say anything about education or NCLB on his website, though he’ll obviously have to soon if he maintains frontrunner status.

So what does this all mean for education types who've been wondering why there's been so little talk in the primaries about fixing our schools? Two things: look to California, Nevada, and other highly diverse states to push candidates towards fleshing out their approach to ed reform, but don't hope for a substantial or balanced debate about NCLB. In the race to run away from Bush and his rock-bottom ratings, anti-NCLB rhetoric will still be all the rage. Unfortunately for Ted Kennedy, his noble attempts at fostering civil and constructive dialogue won't play on the campaign trail just yet.

*Fun side note: Calling music and art our “Weapons of Mass Instruction,” Mike Huckabee becomes the first major candidate to self-brand as a “Hawk” on ed reform.

Ethan Gray is Director of Education Policy for Be the Change, Inc, which seeks to create a more idealistic and vibrant democracy in which citizens, and citizen action, are at the center of politics and policy making.

Posted in Education