People For The American Way has released a report (pdf) critical of the Washington, D.C. private school voucher program. Pretty predictable stuff and it’s too soon for serious analysis of what’s happening with this program anyway (though Eduwonk’s not optimistic about its prospects to really change much in DC’s beleaguered public education system). For sober background about how the program came to be, this piece by The Post’s Spencer Hsu is excellent.
But, buried in the report and today’s Washington Post story about it, are some wild email exchanges. Particularly this one from Department of Education Office Of Innovation honcho Nina Rees. From The Post:
Rees, in an e-mail to Sachar about the need to keep Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and other members of Congress in the loop about the program, wrote in May that Specter “(ugh) wants it and while I hate the guy, we need to be nice to him I’m told.”
In an interview yesterday, Rees said, “I regret having made the comment and have the utmost respect for the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.”
Oops!