The presidential candidates haven’t talked much about education in the campaign, except to say that they’re for it. McCain has said the least, writes Richard Whitmire on Politico. But his key education advisor, Lisa Graham Keegan, the former state schools superintendent in Arizona, is no milquetoast.
She is a close friend of McCain who shook up Arizona’s education system while serving as superintendent and then gained a national — but controversial — reputation with the Education Leaders Council, a national organization of conservative school reformers. With her blond good looks and disarming candor, Keegan has what the TV world dubs a high “Q†factor, that indefinable something that makes people pay attention.
. . . Her relentless push in Arizona to launch charter schools and win tax credits for private school tuition make her a polarizing figure in Arizona education. If you’re a presidential candidate planning to put education on the back burner, you don’t pick Lisa Graham Keegan as your adviser.
Via Eduwonk, who warns against excessive gushing about blondes. He wants McCain to come out with centrist education reforms that will force the Democratic nominee to engage in a debate.
I get why the real right-wing conservatives are hostile to public schools but I’ve never understood why Republican moderates, especially those Bull Moose or “national greatness” types don’t make a priority out of building public education into a powerfully effective national institution. It seems to fit with their agenda more generally and is a smart issue with voters.
Not going to happen, says Flypaper. Voters are burned out on education and McCain has other issues that distinguish him from the Dems.
Election Fever 2008 has links to the education positions of McCain, Obama and Clinton.
Education is not a federal issue. It is a family issue, a community issue and a state issue in that order.
NCLB achieved some modest improvements overall but the benefits will erode as states get more creative using loopholes and more loopholes are created from political pressure.
The best federal policy would be to shut down the Department of Education as Reagan promised to do and make elementary and secondary school tuition tax deductible.
Perhaps the educators should be careful what they wish for. The education establishment does not operate the way John McCain demands of the government. John McCain has a history of taking a results oriented, no nonsense approach.
When the Pentagon wanted to lease refueling tanker planes, almost singlehandedly John McCain brought the deal to a screeching halt. At least one person went to jail. How would educators react to similarly having their feet held to the fire? If you think No Child Left Behind is tough, John McCain has a history of taking on issues head on and demanding results.
Personally I would love to see John McCain take on the education cartel directly and forcefully. But he clearly has other priorities.