Politics K-12

By March 14, 2008 at 10:47 AM

If you were as fascinated as I was with the Eliot Spitzer scandal, then you may have missed these noteworthy reads: The Democrats for Education Reform will be among the first to get a sneak-peak of the new governor of New York, David Paterson. (Hat tip to Eduwonk for flagging this story.) Before Spitzer's troubles became public, the DFER had planned a March 20 fundraiser for Paterson in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. And, DFER's Joe Williams told me, Paterson has re-confirmed that he plans to attend. With so few major pieces written about education in the presidential race, it's ...

By March 13, 2008 at 1:43 PM

Hoping to hear a lively - and maybe even substantive - debate between two federal candidates over the future of the No Child Left Behind Act? You might be in luck ... if you live in Minnesota. Mike Ciresi, a laywer who was vying with the comedian Al Franken, at right, for a chance to take on Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, dropped out of the Democratic primary race this week, putting Franken in a strong position to win his party's nomination. That means we might start hearing a real discussion on NCLB in the general election campaign because it seems ...
Congress

By March 12, 2008 at 11:04 AM

Here at Education Week, we divide up states among reporters, who are then charged with keeping tabs on education reform ideas in those states. We monitor the legislatures, the state chiefs, and the governor, especially around budget and State of the State times. New York is my state. And so I gathered around the TV, with my colleagues, about an hour ago to watch Gov. Eliot Spitzer resign from office, in such an unfortunate and untimely way. The "Sheriff of Wall Street" had great promise when he took office last year. After all, observers wondered what would happen if Spitzer ...
State Races

By March 12, 2008 at 10:56 AM

I think Joe Williams at Democrats for Education Reform gets a medal for being one of the first ones out of the gate—if not the first one—to offer a statement on what the pending resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer means for K-12. The statement was posted on his blog at 9:37 a.m. today and hit my email in-box at 10:30 a.m. today. Perhaps this is Joe's journalistic instincts taking over. Spitzer is expected to announce his resignation today at 11:30 a.m....
State Races

By March 11, 2008 at 10:43 AM

Given the problems that have befallen New York's caped crusader against corruption, Eliot "Client No. 9" Spitzer, it seems appropriate to examine what's at stake for education, and the guy who might replace him. New York is at a pivotal point in education, as Gov. Spitzer has championed and succeeded in investing more money in public schools—prompted by court rulings declaring that the state wasn't spending enough money to provide kids with an adequate education. At the same time, he's demanded accountability in exchange for that money. There's no indication Democrat Lt. Gov. David Paterson (pictured) would halt the ...
State Races Vouchers

By March 11, 2008 at 10:33 AM

...from Lisa Graham Keegan, a former Arizona state schools chief who will start devoting more time to Sen. John McCain's campaign as one of his education policy advisers, according to this Arizona Republic story. Already part of a team of five education advisers, Keegan will take on a greater, more time-consuming role now that McCain is the GOP nominee. Note in the story that even his education advisers haven't spent much time talking about education issues with Sen. McCain, who has largely avoided the issue on the campaign trail....
John McCain

By March 7, 2008 at 7:39 AM

...then you must add this story to your reading list: "The Lost Years," written by my colleague Mary Ann Zehr, who traveled to Jordan to chronicle the lives of Iraqi children who fled their war-torn country. If you think the war in Iraq is just about bombs and oil and fighting terrorism and getting out as quickly as we can, then this is a heart-wrenching eye-opener about the devastating affects of war on a child's education. You don't hear the candidates talk much about this when they speak of the Iraq war. Also good reads: Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn ...

By March 6, 2008 at 11:54 AM

Here’s some inside baseball on those retirements of congressional Republicans I wrote about earlier this week: Their departures may have an impact on the bottom-line for some education programs. A number of the retiring Republicans have helped control the purse strings for education as members of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing education spending. In fact, four out of the six regular GOP members of the panel are retiring. The retiring members are: Rep. James T. Walsh of New York, the ranking member on the subcommittee overseeing education funding. He's been a supporter of funding for special education , offering an ...
Congress

By March 6, 2008 at 8:30 AM

Now that John McCain is the Republican nominee for president, a lot of people are paying far more attention to what he says on the campaign trail. And although he doesn't talk much about education, he may have stepped on a landmine when he waded into the controversial area of what causes autism. Specifically, he said there's "strong evidence" that a preservative in vaccines is causing autism. What strong evidence? As my colleague Christina Samuels points out in her blog post, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no link. For more on this and other special ...
John McCain

By March 5, 2008 at 10:34 AM

What an election night! Two candidates who, at one point or another, were practically relegated to the political graveyard had big nights. Some education highlights: Alexander Russo wonders whether Sen. Barack Obama's wishy-washy stance on private school vouchers hurt him in Ohio, which is home both to powerful teachers' unions and a state-funded voucher program in Cleveland. Obama, in his speech last night in Texas, pledges that no child should attend school where there are more rats than computers. And finally, we must bid farewell to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the affable Republican who actually made education a campaign ...
Barack Obama Mike Huckabee

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