Defending -- much less advocating -- NCLB has to be one of the most thankless jobs out there, but the LA Times’ columnist Ron Brownstein gives it a shot in Don’t leave this law behind. Sounding like he’s been talking to EdSec Spellings, Kati Haycock, and Bruce Reed a lot, Brownstein admits that the law has “minted enemies” and blames the current AYP system for creating a “reverse Lake Wobegon syndrome” in which too many schools are rated as low-performing. But he concludes that improving the law is possible, and that with immigration reform seemingly done in “educational accountability offers Washington its last chance for a big bipartisan accomplishment this year.” We’ll see.