After reading my explanation about why NCLB doesn’t matter—at least for now—Mike Petrilli assigns me the task deconstructing what Sarah Palin said about the law in her “October surprise” on education in Thursday’s debate. (Sorry I’m late getting back to you, Mike. I took Friday off to be with my sons and go to their parent-teacher conferences.)
But I don’t have much to say about Palin’s statement. She thinks NCLB needs to be more flexible, and “it’s not doing the job though.” What politician wouldn’t agree? She says standards are too low. Lots of people have said that. Mike Petrilli and his boss have been some of the loudest voices in that choir. She believes “our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving.” But she doesn’t say which level of government should do the ramping.
These are the type of general statements that won’t matter when the next version of NCLB is written. Even if Palin is vice president when the law is reauthorized, what she said on Thursday night won’t matter.
Mike, maybe I’ll get back to you after Barack Obama and John McCain are done with their town hall meeting tomorrow night.
