Sen. Bayh

The Washington Post‘s Chris Cillizza reports that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is retiring. In recent years, Bayh has draw a lot of ire and criticism from progressives and other Democrats, and I can’t claim to understand some of his actions. But Bayh does deserve real credit for the political courage he showed, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman, in championing educational accountability, public school choice, and the “Three R’s” bill that eventually provided the template for much of the best things that were in NCLB. Bayh’s and Lieberman’s actions a decade ago helped pave the way for what has become a robust, exciting, and fundamentally progressive Democratic school reform movement today.

–Sara Mead

6 Replies to “Sen. Bayh”

  1. Wow. A man famous for getting on people’s nerves did something good huh? What are the odds of that?

    How about somewhere between slim and none?

  2. Hopefully we’ll begin to see many of the important changes that teachers have lobbied for for many years: fully qualified teachers in every classroom, health care for all children, and community schools with social supports for our poorest children.

  3. Is it fair to say that No Child Left Behind, signed into law in Jan 2002, suffered from a lack of followup? Where has Baye/Bush/Lieberman been?

  4. The current Democratic school reform, typified by Arne Duncan, is robust, exciting, and fundamentally progressive?

    Gee, if the emphasis on standards, teacher accountability, pay-for-performance and charter schools is what passes for progressive solutions these days then we’re fucked.

  5. What Eli said. With classroom numbers and student teacher ratios going up, teacher salaries not keeping pace with the cost of living, and cut backs in programs aimed at the most vulnerable students needing the most help to succeed, I don’t see much in the way of progressive change in K 12 education.

  6. And don’t forget the crap work that Evan Bayh has performed for higher education…

    Mr. Fiscal Responsibility is all for leaving $80 billion higher costs for studen loans and lower availability to fund them so that Indiana private student loan originators can reap the benefits.

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0210/Bayh_sides_with_finance_industry_on_student_lending.html

    Evan Bayh – pair him with Lieberman in the integrity when they pay me for it column.

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