During President Bush’s State of the Union, he touted a re-packaged $300 million “Pell Grants for Kids” program that would essentially give scholarships or vouchers to help low-income students trapped in failing schools. And he again touted the No Child Left Behind Act, which will become—for better or for worse—his education legacy.

Yet the Democratic candidates’ official responses didn’t touch the subject of education. In his official response, Sen. Barack Obama didn’t address education. Neither did Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York or former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. And even Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who isn’t in the presidential race but delivered the Democratic Party’s “official response” didn’t address the issue (and she’s chairwoman of the Education Commission of the States). UPDATE: Sebelius has just announced she’s endorsing Obama.

But depending on your perspective, silence can be a good thing.