Campaign K-12

From contributing blogger Alyson Klein:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has new rules for lobbyists who work with the campaign. McCain's campaign won't employ registered lobbyists, and volunteer advisers can't work on the subjects on which they lobby.

I'm wondering how that will effect his education policy team, which includes some registered lobbyists. For instance, David Crane, who, according to the Fordham Foundation's Mike Petrilli, heads up McCain's education policy team. He's a registered lobbyist and the president of Quadripoint Strategies. His clients have included the U.S.Chamber of Commerce, according to the liberal-leaning media watchdog group Media Matters.

At least one member of McCain's education policy team, Eugene Hickok, a former deputy U.S. secretary of education under the current President Bush and now a senior policy director at Dutko Worldwide, a government affairs advocacy firm, said he's not sure yet how and whether the new rules will affect him. He's a registered lobbyist who has worked on No Child Left Behind reauthorization issues, but described his work as closer to "policy advocacy" than to traditional lobbying. He said he had to fill out some forms for the McCain campaign this week and is waiting to hear back.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From contributing blogger Alyson Klein:

Kentucky and Oregon hold their Democratic primaries today. And I have to say, I'm sorry we didn't get to the Blue Grass State earlier in the election cycle, when it might have actually mattered more. The state has a storied history of education redesign, dating back nearly two decades with the Kentucky Education Reform Act. And there's a great debate going on there right now about whether to revamp the state's assessments or leave in place the current system, which includes student portfolios.

It's the kind of in-the-weeds, local issue that typically doesn't get addressed in a presidential contest, but if Kentucky had as much influence as say, Iowa, New Hampshire or (this time around) Pennsylvania, the candidates might have felt compelled to talk about it, maybe as part of seeking the endorsement of teachers' unions and other education groups in the state.

That would have given us a good idea of where the candidates stand on using multiple measures to assess student progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been a major issues in the debate over the law's reauthorization. The law's renewal will likely be completed under the next president's watch.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From contributing blogger Alyson Klein:

Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia endorsed Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois today. Byrd oversees the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, so he'll be working closely with the next president (whoever that may be) on education spending. At this point in the race, the endorsement is mostly meaningful in that it puts another superdelegate into Obama's column.

Still, looking much further down the road, the endorsement could be a positive sign for relations between the appropriations committee and the White House under an Obama administration. That could only help the bottom-line for programs that Obama has championed on the campaign trail, such as improving teacher preparation.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From contributing blogger Alyson Klein:

Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona is (finally) working on an education issue. Well, kind of.

Some U.S. senators, led by Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, and Sen. John Warner, a Republican, both of Virginia, are trying to craft a "new GI Bill" that would offer a generous new college access benefit to many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill would pay for four years (!) of tuition at a public university, plus a living stipend and money for books and other supplies, Webb's spokeswoman, Jessica Smith, told me yesterday.

But some Republicans (and conservative Democrats) are balking at the cost, estimated to be about $51.6 billion over 10 years. Over in the House, they've solved the problem, at least politically, by increasing taxes on people earning more than $500,000 a year. That got the support of the conservative Democrats. But the proposal's still gotta get through the Senate, where it's run into problems in part because of its cost and the potential tax increase.

Enter McCain, who, according to this Washington Post story has proposed "a less generous" alternative that would offer the "richest benefits" to service members who have done multiple tours. Naturally, many veteran's organizations prefer the Webb-Warner plan.

Still, if McCain can compromise with Democrats to help get the new GI Bill out of the Senate, it would definitely give him something to brag about on the campaign trail, and on an issue (college access) with which he hasn't been closely identified in the past.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From contributing blogger Alyson Klein:

So the big news is that former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the one-time Democratic presidential candidate, is expected to endorse Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for president tonight. In terms of the nomination, this might mean that Edwards' 60-some delegates will go to Obama - a seemingly small number, compared to the 2,026 needed to win the nomination, but every little bit counts in this close Democratic contest.

It might mean that some of the anti-poverty programs that Edwards supported will become part of Obama's platform. That included a number of education programs, such as raising pay by up to $15,000 annually for teachers in high-poverty schools. And it wouldn't surprise me (or anyone) if Edwards were offered a role in Obama's cabinet. According to the Times article, he's interested in attorney general (or even vice-president).

But, if that doesn't pan out... Edwards' passion for workers' and health issues would suggest Secretary of Labor (where he'd oversee JobCorps, a vocational training program aimed at 16 to 24 year olds) or Secretary of Health and Human Services (where he'd oversee Head Start).

And...as long as I'm speculating on cabinet positions...I should mention that Edwards' had some pretty fiery anti-No Child Left Behind Act rhetoric on the campaign trail, even suggesting "ditching" the law at one point. As far as I'm aware, he's never expressed interest in becoming Secretary of Education. But you never know...

Posted by Alyson Klein at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Actually, Campaign K-12 will continue on, but I need a break. Blogging is hard work!

In all seriousness, I'll be out of the office until after Memorial Day, leaving this blog in the capable hands of frequent contributor Alyson Klein, who covers the federal beat here. My colleagues Mark Walsh, who covers the school legal beat, and David Hoff, NCLB reporter extraordinaire, may also make guest appearances.

As for Harry Potter, I'm perhaps one of only a handful on Earth who hasn't read this series. But apparently I should, because the villain of the seven volumes is the inspiration behind a teachers' union campaign to oust Washington State Schools Superintendent Terry Bergeson. Read the Associated Press exclusive story here.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Former Arizona State Schools Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan offers a very revealing quote in the Arizona Republic, which writes about how she's jumping on board John McCain's presidential campaign full-time.

"Having Senator McCain be in a position to get ready to start talking about education a little bit more fully in his campaign, it's just a great opportunity to be a part of," Keegan said.

In a position? To get ready? To start talking about education? A little bit? More fully?

The election is only six months away!

Mike Petrilli at Fordham's Flypaper seems to see this as a good sign that McCain isn't ready to to cede the issue of education. I guess it is a good sign that the Arizona Republican is almost, but not quite, in a position to get ready to start talking a little bit more fully about education.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ED in '08 Chairman and superdelegate Roy Romer today announced he is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for president. (Hat tip to Flypaper on this one.) Romer, a former Colorado governor and Democratic National Chairman, leads the nonpartisan ED in '08 group that's trying to make education a prominent issue in the election.

To be sure, Romer isn't saying ED in '08 is endorsing Obama. In this ABC News story, he says: "My partner here, Marc Lampkin is a Bush Republican, a McCain Republican, so we are still one Democrat and one Republican who will be working even handedly." (Lampkin is the executive director of ED in '08, and I didn't know he had endorsed a candidate. I'll certainly ask him about that at the ED in '08 blogger summit I'm attending on Thursday.)

But in that same story, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the campaign will seek the counsel and advice of Romer on education issues.

Should the chairman of the nonpartisan ED in '08 campaign, which is receiving an unprecedented $60 million from the Gates and Broad foundations, really be advising a Democratic candidate?

Just asking.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Who else, besides me, is going to the ED in '08 blogger summit? While the substance of the summit is on Thursday, the gathering kicks off tomorrow night with cocktails, appetizers, and a screening of the documentary Two Million Minutes. I'm not quite sure what to expect from this summit, but I'm sure it will be interesting.

On tap is Newt Gingrich, and bloggers Joanne Jacobs, Dan Brown, and Alexander Russo, among others. Yours truly will be on a panel called "Blogging the Election: Breaking Through the Noise."

Posted by Michele McNeil at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here at EdWeek and Campaign K-12, we've been trying to get a list of John McCain's education advisers, but with little success. Thankfully, (insert sarcasm here), someone has leaked the list to the good folks at Fordham.

A few of the advisers are crossovers from Mitt Romney's camp, including former education department officials William D. Hansen and Eugene W. Hickok. And we've known that former Arizona state superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan was on the list. Also filling McCain's education bench is Williamson Evers, who has amassed a list of enemies who may have helped briefly stall his Senate confirmation last year to the U.S. Department of Education.

Officially missing from the list is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is likely taking on a more informal, though probably no less influential, advising role.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)