Steal This Education Agenda

Political memo to: Hillary, John(s), Mitt, Barack, Rudy and other '08 aspirants

From: Andrew J. Rotherham and Richard Whitmire

Subject: Why you need to really care about education

Conventional wisdom holds that the Iraq war will be issue No. 1. Yet issues such as education matter, too, because they help voters form a broader, more comprehensive profile of candidates. Remember George W. Bush's 2000 "compassionate conservative" shtick?

Besides, it is a real problem. Even our best suburban school districts are not doing well enough, and urban education is a national scandal. Changing that means challenging both special interests and your own advisers who think you are better off playing it safe.

Why education politics are even worse than you think: Pushing for radical reforms to help poor and minority children in failing schools will get you labeled "conservative," while fighting to preserve a demonstrably failing status quo makes you a great "liberal." Go figure.

But you can't sidestep it. Bill Clinton and President Bush have nationalized education policymaking. So, although it might be a political minefield made worse by yawn-inducing jargon, education has to be on your agenda.

Why you should care: Nullifying the 15- to 20-point advantage Democrats traditionally enjoyed on education was key to "W" making it to the White House. Besides, voters want to make sure you're tough enough to protect them in a dangerous world. You're going to have trouble demonstrating that if you can't even stand up to the National Education Association.

Why you should listen to us: Only a few Washington types bother to sort out the AYPs from the APs (No Child Left Behind's "Adequate Yearly Progress" system for rating schools and the popular Advanced Placement classes for high school students). Much to the dismay of friends and family, we're two of those who do. We visit dangerous schools and digest boring papers so you don't have to.

Our plan: This jargon-free, bipartisan education agenda guarantees you will own the political center and, better yet, be in a position to help kids when you win. Here's how:

Read the rest at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3567.html