George W. Bush
Education
Opinion
Bush's No-Name Cabinet
Slate magazine recently ran this piece about how unknown most of Bush's cabinet are, even compared to other unknown cabinets (A Bush Cabinet quiz). Much of it is due to the fact that, so late into a second term, only the most desperate opportunists are clamoring to join the Administration. The other, according to the article, is that so much of Bush's domestic agenda (such as it is) came from Karl Rove, not the DPC (currently headed by Karl Zinsmeister) or the departments themselves.
Education
Opinion
Spellings Spills To National Journal
There's not much that's really new or interesting in too many education stories these days, but not so in National Journal's Q and A with Secretary Spellings from Friday (Improving on '99.9% Pure' $$). In an interview with reporter Lisa Caruso (pictured), Spellings mocks multiple measures as do-it-yourself school reform, says that more money for NCLB will only come with a new iteration of the law, walks back from earlier statements about preferring current law to the Miller proposal, declines to apologize for the infamous Ivory Soap remark, and explains the origin of her Bush nickname. That's good stuff. The only thing missing from Caruso's piece is an in-depth analysis of what Spellings was wearing. (The black pantsuit? The big broach?) Find a friend who has a subscription. Related post here.
Education
Opinion
President Announces New NCLB Strategery
From the White House NCLB event going on right about now:
Education
Opinion
White House NCLB Event Later Today
I don't know who the attendees are yet, but the President and the EdSec are doing a White House event on NCLB today in the Roosevelt Room, followed by a Rose Garden statement by the Prez. Stay tuned. Could be fun. Feel free to email snarky comments or fashion tidbits if you're there. That's what BlackBerrys are for. (thisweekineducation at gmail dot com, or 312-286-9242)
Education
Opinion
George W. Bush Was "Mainstreamed," Says Conservative Columnist
Everyone hates conservative columnist Ann Coulter right now (she recently joked that perhaps women shouldn't get to vote). But she did write something a little funnier in her new book: "“President George W. Bush is evidently the first mentally retarded person to get a Harvard M.B.A., graduate from the U.S. Air Force Flight School, be elected governor of Texas and then be elected President of the United States twice. I Guess that's what they call 'mainstreaming.'” Yikes.
Education
Opinion
Will Universal Preschool Get "S-CHIPed"?
Universal preschool is going to be education campaign issue Number One, says Richard Whitmire (Preschool) based on all the proposals out there. Many would agree with him. But the recent Presidential veto of the S-CHIP shows that it might not be so easy to get something done. President Bush vetoed the S-CHIP on the grounds that it doesn't focus on the poorest kids who already have preschool and creates a major new "entitlement" program. Of course, politics play a part and Bush will not be there in the future, but the struggle shows just how difficult it is to get new programs created even when little kids are involved.
Education
Opinion
SecState Rice Visits Harlem School
"The secretary and the veteran Democratic congressman made a bit of an odd couple in the school, also known as the Harriet Tubman School, which is in his district, just steps from his local office...But to hear her explain it, the success of schools is as much a part of national security as, say, negotiations with the Iraqi government." (From Capitol to Halls of the Nation’s Future NYT)
Education
Opinion
Where's Spellings?
In China, of course -- not in time to help the women's World Cup team (they lost on Friday to Brazil) but rather to help out with that whole Special Olympics thing.
Federal
Bush Pushes NCLB as Renewal Percolates
As lawmakers continued backroom negotiations, President Bush urged them to move the bill along.
Education
Opinion
Plural Speech Gaffes For Bush
As if the President's mis-statement ("Childrens learn") yesterday wasn't enough, a draft of President Bush's speech to the U.N. General Assembly was posted online with phonetic spellings and other markings that weren't supposed to be seen by anyone outside the administration (Thanks to Bush, bloggers are hooked on phonics USA Today).
Education
Opinion
"Childrens Do Learn," Says President In Latest Education-Related "Bushism"
The Washington Post would probably not have written about the Bush education event today in New York if Bush hadn't yet again mangled the English language. During the event, he reportedly said "Childrens do learn" -- a reworking of his famous 2002 Bushism "is our children learning?" ( No Child Left Behind Is Working). Via Eduwonk.
Education
Opinion
NAEP Scores Vs. Little Rock
It's a tough call, I guess -- stay in town and spin the news about the latest NAEP scores that are out today, or go to Little Rock to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of school integration? Well, Spellings is staying in town, and Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon is going to Arkansas. Not that the EdSec doesn't like herself some travel, of course. Later this fall she's scheduled to go to Shanghai for a Special Olympics shindig.
Education
Opinion
No More "Federal Building Number 6"
First they renamed National Airport in DC as Reagan National. Now the USDE administrative building in Washington has been renamed after President Lyndon Baines Johnson (yes, the same guy who got the Space Center named after him, too). Soon, you'll be hearing folks saying, "See you over at the LBJ Building." Or, "The meeting with the Secretary has been changed to 10 am at the LBJ Building." Read all about it here. Via the FritzWire.
Education
Opinion
Spellings Rocks Cleveland -- Gets Good Press
There seems to be no end of the positive press that EdSec Spellings is able to muster, even now with her efforts to revamp NCLB seemingly in shambles. Here Washington Whispers -- which only last week reported that she was going to run for Governor in Texas -- mysteriously decides that a ho-hum trip to Cleveland is worthy of not only a mention but an illustration.