Optimists Among Us

While the Wall Street Journal (channeling the Brookings Institution's Tom Loveless) is pessimistic about the prospects of education policy in an Obama Administration, other policymakers and pundits see the glass as half full.

Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former West Virginia governor, is "bullish" on education.

Arne Duncan, Chicago schools chief, and oft-mentioned candidate for a leadership role in an Obama administration, recently said the following (as reported by Alexander Russo):

So this may not be the ideal climate for a discussion on the future of public education. In fact, several recent newspaper articles have suggested that education will not be one of Barack Obama’s top priorities.

I think they are wrong.

As I said previously, education won't be the first horse out of the gate, but it'll be in the race. After all, Linda Darling-Hammond is no shrinking violet. She recently used unflinching language (as reported in David Hoff's Campaign K-12 blog) to express President-elect Obama's continued commitment to education issues. And she should know as she is heading up his Education Policy Working Group during the transition.