Congress gave us less stimulus than we asked for last time around so we don’t see any point in making a futile effort to go back to the well; if it looks like Congress is prepared to act then we can start talking about what appropriate action would look like. Until then we’re working with the tools that we have, tools that we think are making the situation much better than it otherwise would be, but recovery will take time.
Seems simple enough.
2 comments:
As one commenter said, it takes time to turn around an aircraft carrier.
When reading about health care reform, I've been asking myself about its lessons for education reform. I read the full page of health care arguments in the Sunday NY Times, and at the end I was just as undecided as before.
To me, the biggest lesson in all of this Stimulus debate is the need for modesty.
I think its easy to poke holes in many of Duncan's statements on the Stimulus, but I don't know what I'd be doing if I was in his shoes.
Also, I'm getting more receptive to arguments that we are attempting too much too quickly. It would never happen, but how about this? We should invest more in old-fashioned efforts like building infrastructure, even CCC and WPA type efforts. We could then put kids to work on jobs that build confidence and responsibility.
BUT, we match their pay, dollar for dollar, in an educational savings account. Then we'd use cell phones and other outreach to counsel poor kids and to take full advantage of the options available to them
Also I agree with your comment that Duncan should not we making so many threats but pulling together a coalition for NCLB II. And a key could be the compromise articulated by a conservative, Diane Ravitch, that we set high Standards, require high-quality assessments, and use testing for a consumer reports.
To me, that represnts the modesty that should be expressed by the entire administration, not just Presidetn Obama.
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