Word: reformator
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...Duncan prepares to testify before the House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday, he's facing fire from all sides. The committee's ranking Republican, John Kline, issued a tepid appraisal of the proposed changes, applauding Duncan for "his bipartisan approach to reform," while noting that "there are clearly still major differences from across the spectrum about the best path forward...
...although Kline voiced concern about "federal intrusion into our schools," Mike Petrilli, vice president for programs and policy at the Thomas E. Fordham Institute, an education-reform think tank, argues that Obama's blueprint outlines a hands-off approach that would allow states to craft standards and liberate teachers from the test-heavy focus that became a hallmark of NCLB. "This should be a huge victory for many of the education groups that for years have been complaining about the onerous accountability burden coming from Washington," says Petrilli, who served in the Bush Administration's Department of Education. "I think...
...unions, which have long been a key Democratic constituency, issued such scathing assessments of Obama's education-reform blueprint that even some fellow party members were mystified. "It's like they didn't read the document," says Charles Barone, director of federal policy at Democrats for Education Reform. "Apparently their definition of a partnership is that they're the bully and you're the weakling on the playground...
...specifics. For starters, it's unclear how quickly states would be able to codify collective standards for college- and career-readiness - which would most likely require new exams and curricula - and already Alaska and Texas have signaled that they don't intend to cooperate in the effort. Education-reform experts have also expressed reservations ranging from the feasibility of the plan's college-and-career-ready timeline to its ability to motivate schools that fall in the middle of the pack in terms of performance. But by both limiting the scope of federal involvement and sketching out sweeping reforms, Obama...
...both parties brace for the House's deciding vote on health reform, they are framing the issue in starkly different ways. To Democrats, it's one last chance to make the moral argument in favor of reform, political repercussions be damned. "We need courage," said President Obama at a speech in Ohio on Monday. To Republicans, it's all about politics, specifically the possibility that House Democrats will employ a relatively rare procedural maneuver to ram through legislation they can't pass by conventional means, and in the process better position vulnerable members for fall re-election battles. These legislative...