Yesterday, Barack Obama decided to capitalize on John McCain's total, no-caveats embrace of No Child Left Behind. The Illinois Senator, speaking at the Mapleton Expeditionary School for the Arts: "I believe it's time to lead a new era of mutual responsibility in education... This starts with fixing the broken promises of No Child Left Behind." Obama went on to say that he believed in higher standards, believed in putting quality teachers in every classroom, believed in closing the achievement gap, but that he didn't believe that NCLB's current iteration did those things well. It's the safest bet in Vegas that most Americans agree with him. John McCain's team responded by criticizing Obama's Senate record. "While in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has never spearheaded education reforms, which despite his lofty rhetoric, demonstrates his weak leadership on an issue that is critical to the economic strength of our country," said McCain's spokesman. That's it? Sheesh.
"Obama tours Colorado school, touts education plans," by Judith Kohler, Associated Press, May 28, 2008
"Obama Wonks It Up in Education Speech," by Karl Vick, Washington Post Online, May 28, 2008