Blog from the Capital

Education policy is generally outside the scope of this blog. I try to be church-state 24/7. So, commenting on No Child Left Behind wouldn't normally be my thing. Except I happen to agree with Kevin Drum, or at least think this is worth thinking about: that one ultimate effect (and quite possibly the pusrpose) of declaring so many schools failing under the 100% standards the Washington Post discussed yesterday is that opens wider the door to school choice and vouchers.

Here's Kevin:

What incentive does anyone have to label 99% of America's public schools as failures? That's crazy, isn't it?

Answer: Anyone who wants the public to believe that public schools are failures. This would primarily consist of conservatives who want to break teachers unions and evangelicals who want to build political momentum for private school vouchers. The whole point of NCLB for these people is to make sure that as many public schools as possible are officially deemed failures.

That last point may be a little harshly sweeping. But it's a fear that is worth thinking about, and guarding against. If we've learned anything from school voucher proponents, it is their relentless march. Despite being rebuffed by courts and ballot boxes alike, they will keep at it.

[UPDATE: Matthew Yglesias thinks Kevin is being a bit unreasonable in his critique. And Drum defends.]

PS. I left my standard uniform italics out of the blockquote above (the emphases were Kevin's) because some have told me the italics are not so fun to read. Is the quote above better? Let me know if you have an opinion.