Everyone’s hoping that newbie education reporter Amit Paley (left) turns out to be a great addition to the national education beat, and indeed he’s done some good, analytic work in recent months. But this latest piece (Ex-Aides Break With Bush on ‘No Child’) seems like a reach -- at best an effort to make news rather than cover it and at worst a preconceived notion slapped onto circumstances that don’t quite fit. If Karl Rove or Rod Paige came out against NCLB, now that would be something. And if Congressional conservatives being upset about the law was new, or growing, that would be something. But Gene Hickock, Ron Tomalis, Brian Jones, and Gerry Reynolds complaining about the law (and EdSec Spellings) doesn’t really seem compelling. Eduwonk is somewhat gentler but generally of the same sentiment here.