First it was Richard Cohen, now Ruth Marcus in today’s WaPo calls out the Democratic ’08ers. Two thoughts on this. First, these columns and the kinds of things you hear from media-types signal, I think, that the political landscape is shifting and the bar for Democrats on serious education proposals is getting higher. That’s good. This issue is right in the groove for the party. Second, what about the Republicans? They are no picnic here and aside from a smattering of governors and No Child Left Behind they haven’t had a creative national thought on education policy since Charlottesville. In fact, most of their creativity has been spent figuring out creative ways to try to undercut the federal role in elementary and secondary schools. Considering the magnitude of the challenges — especially for poor kids — the press ought to be challenging both parties to really step it up with big and serious ideas this cycle.
Update: Helpful reader SG notes that columnist Ruben Navarratte is on this today, too.