Where the President is Right

There are many things where I disagree with the President. But the major thrust of his education proposals make a lot of sense. A good part of the money we spend on education from the federal level is allocated like a menu in a Chinese restaurant - pick one from column a and one from column b. Education funding looks a lot like the tax code - it is complicated and not very effective.

But the Obama administration has made some changes in funding which encourage states to think creatively about how education should develop. Some of their critics have criticized the encouragements in programs to reduce limits on charter schools and to establish new requirements to set up rigorous evaluations for teachers. But compared to the Bush policies established in No Child Left Behind, the locals are given a lot of flexibility to get to the result.