If I were working in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Legislative Affairs, I would be sending every Republican in Congress a Very Special copy of this Washington Post op-ed by conservative columnist George Will (the guy with the bow ties.)
Will, who has criticized the administration quite a bit, has lots and lots of love for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, especially his rhetoric on how class sizes in high-performing countries are bigger than they are here, and on raising standards while bringing back local control.
And the op-ed contains this almost-too-good-to-be-true line:
The Education Department sits at the foot of Capitol Hill, where many new legislators consider "federal education policy" a constitutional oxymoron. They have a point. They might, however, decide that the changes Duncan proposes—on balance, greater state flexibility in meeting national goals—make him the Obama administration's redeeming feature.
Someone at the department should put that on a gold-plated cigar case and send it to Speaker of the House John Boehner. Or just give Duncan a T-shirt that says, “Obama Administration’s Redeeming Feature” to wear to his meetings with GOP lawmakers on the Hill.
