Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, at right, is barnstorming states trying to improve NCLB’s image. The press coverage of her stops so far has been rather favorable, leaving out some of the voices of the law’s most strident critics. See, for example, this story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
But when the secretary stopped in her hometown of Houston last week, commenters on this Houston Chronicle story weren’t buying her message. One pointed out the logical inconsistency of all students reaching grade level if that term is defined as the 50th percentile. Another calls her a name that my sons (ages 10 and 7) like to use on each other, and then adds that the secretary enrolled one of her daughters in a Catholic school. (That’s news to me. Send me an e-mail if you know this to be true). All in all, not a good hometown reception.
But I doubt Spellings will be deterred by these remarks. She’s been using pseudo-religious language about NCLB’s achievement goal, calling it “righteous” in interviews and public appearances. Maybe she’ll find comfort in Matthew 13:57.
