Conservative columnist Robert Bluey says that after the immigration bill conservatives are licking their chops to come after No Child Left Behind. Understandable…but avoidable. The President has to decide what he wants to do here.
If he wants to get a good bill done he needs to put some money on the table so that Senator Kennedy and Representative Miller, the lead Democrats in the Senate and the House, can deliver enough votes to make that happen. Bush can afford to lose a lot of conservatives if Miller and Kennedy can deliver enough Democrats. If he wants to keep conservatives happy, he’s going to have a hard time. Because what it will take to get them on board is probably a deal breaker.
If the President really is playing for history, as he says, it’s an easy choice.
Related from WaPo Ed board here:
To let states opt out of doing the hard, necessary work of raising standards is to turn back the clock on education reform.