Blog

Your Education Road Map

Politics K-12®

ESSA. Congress. State chiefs. School spending. Elections. Education Week reporters keep watch on education policy and politics in the nation’s capital and in the states. Read more from this blog.

Federal

Obama to Give Half-Hour Interview on Education

By Alyson Klein — September 22, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

President Barack Obama is going to sit down for a half-an-hour interview Monday, just on education issues, with NBC’s Matt Lauer. Although I’d be surprised if he unveils any brand new policies, the interview itself is a big deal.

“It’s a real opportunity” for the White House to send a message on the importance of education, Roberto Rodriguez, a White House adviser on education issues, told executives assembled today at the school division of the Association of American Publishers’ fall meeting on Capitol Hill. “The president rarely grants half-hour interviews on one issue.”

The interview, probably not coincidentally, coincides with a whole bunch of other education-redesign hoopla that’s been going on lately, including Michelle Rhee and other educators appearing on Oprah, and the release of shock-you-mentary Waiting for Superman. Will all this action influence the debate on policies like the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Race to the Top? Time will tell.

(Thanks to my awesome colleague, Catherine Gewertz of Curriculum Matters fame, for the quote and the heads-up.)

Related Tags: