Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has replaced the late Ted Kennedy as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Many interest groups are ecstatic, many school reformers wary, seeing Harkin as an old-style Democrat who opposes charter schools and merit pay and works on behalf of the establishment. But there could be a silver lining. As Gadfly Show co-host Rick Hess told Education Week’s Politics K12 blog, Harkin may act as a “speed bump” that would slow down many other people’s “Washington Knows Best” proclivities. This pick certainly illustrates the fluidity of education politics; the era of the Washington Consensus may be coming to a close.
“Dodd Decides Against Taking Over Senate Health Committee,” by Paul Kane and Ben Pershing, Capitol Briefing a blog of The Washington Post, September 9, 2009
“Sen. Tom Harkin to Chair the Education Committee,” by Alyson Klein, Politics K12 a blog of Education Week, September 9, 2009