Loads of back and forth on the Aspens*, Toppo’s USA Today piece especially worth reading.
But in this NPR story Fordham’s Mike Petrilli seems to imply that Democrats will embrace the basically pro-No Child Left Behind take of the commission. But the teachers’ unions are going ape over it, NEA President Reg Weaver called one recommendation “crap,**” and there has hardly been a groundswell for the law within the Democratic ranks recently or in the wake of this report. So while that analysis certainly furthers Petrilli’s position on the law, less is more he thinks now, it hardly fits with true cross-pressured position of Democrats.
*Forget the snow, that’s the real storm today.
**Again, worth reading Toppo, the ideas aren’t perfect or necessarily ready for prime time but it’s the right direction to go (and the Aspens seemed to acknowledge that). Weaver’s comments illustrate perfectly the extent to which many folks in the leadership of the NEA fail to grasp that they work for and are part of a public trust where the public does have some prerogatives, it’s not some sort of oligarchy. And the notion advanced by the Aspens that low-performers, after getting help, etc…should be dealt with after say – five years – is hardly unreasonable.