Education a low priority for candidates this fall
Tuesday, July 15, 2008Written by: Captain Haddock
A group of muckety-mucks, including
This latest round of lip service comes courtesy of a bipartisan group of players called the Education Equality Project. According to the Denver Post:
[It] began a little more than a month ago with Klein and civil-rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton. In a short time, it has attracted an odd cast of bedfellows such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer and a handful of urban superintendents and pastors across the country.
Well-intentioned lip service about the importance of education seems as common as summer wildfires around here. Mayor Hick himself says "It’s hard to imagine another environment or another endeavor where so many people invest so many resources … with so little success." But these folks, like the big spenders over at Ed in 08, have had precious little success in actually getting education news on the political agenda for the fall. When is the last time you heard Obama or McCain wax in detail on their education plans? And if you have heard one of them discuss the topic, news coverage of the event was likely dwarfed by such issues of greater importance as the fist bumping techniques of potential First Ladies. The fact is, everyone knows that schools are nice and that every teacher should receive a shiny apple on the first day of school, but – outside of those edu-nerds like me and you who think about schools all day long– few out there actually want to hear much about it. True, there are many other important topics to discuss, like global warming, terrorism, and the middle names of the leading Presidential candidates. But the sad truth is, the bandwith available for real issues is gobbled up by trivia. Good luck to the Education Equality Project, or whatever, and give me a call when the nightly newscast leads with your favorite candidate’s education plan.
