Quotables

Arianna Huffington: Is health care reform going the way of NCLB?

...the chance to enact meaningful change doesn't come along often. And when the opportunity is squandered, it is lost for a long, long time. When reform that isn't reform passes, people check it off their list and move on -- and we are left with worse-than-no-reform boondoggles like No Child Left Behind and Bush's Medicare drug plan.

Fly me to the moon

Herb Kohl is interviewed by John Merrow.

H.K.: Arne Duncan, on the official Department of Education website said, “For states, school districts, nonprofits, unions, and businesses, Race to the Top is the equivalent of education reform’s moon shot.” I thoroughly agree with him. Remember we went to the moon, not to improve science or the quality of life in our country, but to face down the Soviet Union. We spent a lot of money doing it, got little return, and never went back. I believe Duncan’s analogy should be taken seriously.

Herb Kohl's open letter to Arne Duncan

Dear Arne Duncan,

In a recent interview with NEA Today you said of my book 36 Children, "I read [it] in high school … [and] … wrote about his book in one of my college essays, and I talked about the tremendous hope that I feel [and] the challenges that teachers in tough communities face. The book had a big impact on me..." (Read the rest in the latest issue of Rethinking Schools).

Music & Art Kaput?

Here's an example of what Herb is talking about:

Music and art instruction in American eighth-grade classrooms has remained flat over the last decade, according to a new survey by the Department of Education, and one official involved in the survey called student achievement in those subjects “mediocre.” (NYT)

Why Duncan will spend $350 million for more reading & math tests

Here's another one:

"Having real high standards is important, but behind that, I think in this country we have too many bad tests," Duncan said. (Washington Post)