Thompson: Summertime and the Opinions are Hazy

Responding to the question of why Michelle Rhee disregarded the instructions of the D.C. Council to cut $9 million from summer school, Jay Mathews wrote "Anyone who has looked at the data on summer learning loss would have to say Rhee was right, and the council was wrong." What?!?! Because high-quality, engaging summer programs are valuable, Mathews did not need to question the effectiveness of D.C.’s summer schools before proclaiming Rhee is right? When commenters complained that D.C.’s summer schools were still the same old test prep, fig leaf for social promotion, Mathews responded "I know it (summer school) has been bad in the past, but I was told that the plan was to do better in 2010. ... If it turns out to be a zoo, then you are right, I'm an idiot."

Sounds like low expectations for Op Ed writers to me. If I believe that Rhee has plans to improve summer learning, then I can believe that Rhee believes the incredible testimony that she provided to the Council. (Follow the link and see what it really takes to stem summer loss.)

Worst, Mathews explained away alleged age discrimination based on

EQUITY: Keegan Invites EEP Supporters To Call Male Stripper

A friend kindly passed along this amusing email from Lisa Graham Keegan:

Got a funny or mistaken email from an edu-celebrity?  Send it along to thisweekineducation at gmail dot com.

TRANSITION: Bushies Derail Obama Girls' Chances For A Good Education

Still catching up from last week:

If the Obama girls can't move into the Blair Residence January 5, how are they supposed to start school on time? 

And if they can't start school on time, how are they supposed to fit in and get a good education? 

NYT: Sorry, We’re Booked, White House Tells Obamas (via Wonkette).

SPELLINGS: Secretary Celebrates Birthday In Las Vegas "CatHouse"

The establishment is owned in part by the brother of Spelling's Press Secretary, Samara Yudof (Hospitable treatment).

Thanks to Texas education blogger Kimberly Reeves for digging this one up.

HOTSEAT: Former USDE Official Dishes On Spellings, Popular Reforms

Former USDE official and current University of Michigan education researcher Susan Neuman has a book out this week that identifies a handful of programs that she says are proven to be effective.

But they're not the ones that you might think.  There's no KIPP, no Harlem Children's Zone.  Instead there are things like the Nurse Family Partnership program (which you may recall from Kate Boo's Swamp Nurse article in the New Yorker a few years back.)

It's a pretty controversial view of things, especially for those coming from the reformy / accountability hawk side of things.  (Earlier this week, David Whitman called her view "defeatist.")

On the HotSeat, Neuman dishes about Margaret Spellings (they're apparently not Facebook friends),  describes how poverty "trumps everything," talks about Minessota's experience using her research as part of a program review, and says she wants to be on Oprah.

Click below for all her answers.  Or go check out the book: Seven Essential Principles of Educational Programs that Break the Cycle of Poverty.

REGS: Any "Midnight Regulations" For Education? [updated 2x]

Lots of news outlets are telling us about the Bush administration's push to get out "midnight regulations" that would take effect even after Obama takes office (Google News), but no one has told us yet whether there are any regs getting pushed out the door that affect education. 

Any last-minute rule changes or definitions they're trying to sneak by us?  I'm counting on you OMB watchers and lobbyists to tell us what's going on.

UPDATE:  I'm being reminded that the USDE issued a big batch of Title I regs last month (New federal regulations on graduation rates have school officials ...) that might, depending on your definition (90 vs 60 days), be described as midnight regulations. 

UPDATE 2:  ProPublica is tracking midnight regs but doesn't seem to have included any education ones (here).  Maybe the October education regs are only considered to be "twilight" regs?  But that hasn't stopped folks from complaining about them -- see the NEA's press release from a few weeks back.

USDE Exodus Continues -- Schneider, Whitehurst

EdWeek has the story that NCES Commissioner Mark Schneider is headed to AIR (Head of Ed. Dept. Statistics Agency Stepping Down). 

But I'm told that Russ Whitehurst (pictured) is headed to Brookings even sooner than that. 

Watch Out, Boston

Secretary Spellings is headed your way on Thursday. 

During her visit she will "tour classrooms, visit with students and teachers, deliver remarks and participate in a question and answer session about higher education and the Department’s newly launched website, College.gov, at a school assembly at Charlestown High School."

Is it too early to call it a farewell tour?

What Are They Thinking?

Spellings Open-Minded About Federally-Mandated Spanking

Kudos to Spellings for showing off her TedStrong wrist bracelet and talking about her admiration for Ted Kennedy.  Colbert suggested the idea federally mandated spanking.  "Maybe we oughta try that," remarked Spellings.  Colbert came back at her with the idea that school sanctions don't work -- we should go straight to bombing them.  Spellings said that she didn't like the word "sanctions" but remained suspiciously silent on the whole bombing idea.  It was light, as expected, but I guess she did OK.  What did you think?   

UPDATE:  Now there's video.  Hooray.

What Spellings Will Do On Colbert Tonight

Secretary Spellings' pop culture thing wore off on me a long time ago -- though apparently I'm alone. She's slated to be on Colbert tonight.  Here's a link to her Daily Show appearance, based on which we can predict that on tonight's show she will ham it up to show that she's in on the joke and flirt with the host to distract him from the hard question he's trying to ask-- including salacious lip-licking at key moments.

Useless Pre-Holiday Conference Week -- Spellings Attends Everything

Not only does ECS still exist for some reason, it's even having a conference.  Held in Austin this year, it features EdSec Spellings (natch!), plus Kansas Gov Sebelius.  Details here.  Not to be outdone, the Aspen Institute is having its annual ideas festival.  Spellings will be there, too, conversing with Eli Broad about the state of American education.  Details here. 

Spellings Speaks!

"The federal role in education for the last 40-plus years has been on behalf of the nation's neediest kids. As such, No Child Left Behind is written primarily around their needs. I would say those are the kids who are being grossly underserved in our schools."

Q&A: Education secretary: Challenge assumptions about time, teachers
Des Moines Register

She's Going To Disney World!

After a couple of weeks of not doing much by way of public events, EdSec Spellings is headed to San Diego early in the week and then to a "national summit on education reform" at...Disney World.

Click below for details.

"This Information Subject To Change"

The Secretary's public schedule has been pretty slow these past few weeks:

But at least there have been fewer "recalls" this way. 

RTI -- The Next "Reading First"?

Is RTI ("Response To Intervention") the best thing since sliced bread, or just a new name for something old, or -- worst case scenario -- a fancy-sounding way to overburden mainstream classroom teachers and save districts some cash by delaying SPED referrals?  I don't really know. 

I just started hearing about RTI last year -- you probably heard about it much earlier.  But it had been a while since I'd heard about anything "new" and of course that made me curious.  Here's an article by the Washington Post's Michael Allison Chandler from this past winter (Waiting Too Late to Test) that raises some of these questions. 

I like the notion of putting in a systematic screening system that makes sure kids don't just fall through the cracks -- rather than relying entirely on teachers' instincts.  And I'm curious about the potential for small interventions  that might make a difference.  But I'm skeptical about teachers' willingness to do all the formative assessments and ability to make a series of subtle adjustments.  Maybe that's why it's mostly being implemented in better-off districts.

Previous Posts:  Could "Checklists" Improve Academic Outcomes?

Paige Vs. Spellings: A Different Black Man, A Different White Woman

The most interesting part of Patrick Riccards' post on who should be the next EdSec is his description of the previous EdSec, Rod Paige.  In essence, Riccards says Paige has gotten a raw deal.  Indeed, it may be true, especially given that by many accounts Paige was operating under such close orders from the White House DPC, where then-unknown Margaret Spellings was housed.  It's something that I wrote about a while back in an NRO piece about Spellings' about-face on NCLB once she became EdSec.
Unlike with Obama-Clinton, it's Spellings who's the charismatic light-footed one, what with her waivers and pilot programs and TV appearances, while Paige comes off as the plodding, humorless careerist who was overly strict about implementing NCLB.  As with Obama-Clinton, the public narrative may be substantially different from the underlying truth.

PS -- I have never seen a picture of them together, and can't find one on Google Images. 

Return Of The Reading First Ruckus

First, everyone said that Reading First was the best thing since sliced bread -- early intervention on literacy to reach kids that Title I sometimes missed.  Then came lots of accusations about conflicts of interest, and the departure of that Doherty guy from the USDE.  But still, there were reports that the program was popular and considered effective by states and districts that had implemented it.  Now, USA Today's Greg Toppo is reporting that a new study from IES, the research arm of the USDE, shows that Reading First is... ineffective. Doh! Read all about it. 

SECRETARY LOLCAT IZ VRY TRD

Graduation Gap, Dropout Dance

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula NYT
The adoption of a federal graduation formula would correct one of the most glaring weaknesses of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

'Crisis' graduation gap found between cities, suburbs USA Today
The likelihood that a ninth-grader in one of the nation's biggest cities will clutch a diploma four years later amounts to a coin toss — not much better than a 50-50 chance, new research finds.Cross into the suburbs, and the odds improve dramatically.

Report: Urban students face rough road to graduation CNN
Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio, according to a report released Tuesday.

Graduation Gala

Tomorrow's news, today:  "Secretary Spellings will make an announcement during remarks on the need for a more comprehensive and precise definition of “graduation rate” at a press conference hosted by America's Promise Alliance and State Farm in the Columbus Club at Union Station. Other speakers at the press conference on the America’s Promise Alliance’s Dropout Prevention Campaign will include General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret), founding chair, America’s Promise Alliance; Alma Powell, chair, America’s Promise Alliance; and Edward J. Rust, Jr., chief executive officer, State Farm."

"Big" Announcement From Spellings This Week

The EdSec is slated to make a "national policy announcement" tomorrow in Minnesota with the Gov. and the state chief. I wonder what it's going to be.

Spellings Still Rejecting Rove 30 Years Later

EdSec Spellings finally won on NPR's Wait, Wait--Don't Tell Me -- perhaps the easiest game show out there -- but she can't stop talking about rejecting Karl Rove back in the day (Let's Just Be Friends). 

USDE Wants To Know: Can I Have That Email Back?

We've all sent out an email that we didn't mean to send.  But for most of us it doesn't happen all the time.  However, one out of two email announcements from the USDE's Office of Public Affairs these days seems to be followed within a few minutes with a "recall" message.  Here's today's example:

The sender would like to recall the message, "U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION MARGARET SPELLINGS HIGHLIGHTS NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IN RALEIGH".

With the occasional exception, I don't bother trying to figure out what was wrong with the first message -- wrong city?  wrong time?  But these email recalls have gotten so frequent that it's hard not to notice them and wonder whether this is an example of ineptitude or how little anyone cares about emails sent to the press.  My friends on the EWA listserve -- knowing how easily persuaded I am to do their dirty work -- have been hectoring me to point this out. 

USDE Names New, Earring-Wearing Title I Director Named Zollie

Back in the day when federal education funding was much less of a big public deal, being Director of the Title I program was sort of a big deal.  (Remember Mary Jean LeTendre?)  These days, the prominence is gone -- in part because higher-ups (Assistant Secretaries and up) have taken over the issue. 

But someone's still gotta make sure the $14B train runs on time.  The new man for the job is NC native Zollie Stevenson Jr. [Nice earring!] Stevenson was deputy director -- doing state audits among other things -- and before that he worked in Baltimore, DC, and Charlotte-Mecklenberg. 

Congrats, condolences.  Read below for the rest of the details.

FY09 Budget Proposal Might Be Out A Little Early

There's rumors on the Interwebs that the USDE unintentionally revealed its proposed FY09 budget proposals a few days ahead of time, though I can't vouch for any of it. Click below to see what's rumored to be proposed on Monday.  Make of it what you will. Thanks to them who sent this. Fun!

UPDATE:  Here is the spreadsheet with the FY09 figures still "hidden" it, courtesy of the eagle-eyed Jason Sakran at the Committee On Education Funding.  Sakran apparently was first to spy the USDE's mistake and post the news on CEF's website and to its members last week, which is how it got spread around.  Smart guy that he is, Sakran kept a version of the old spreadsheet, which has the new numbers.  [Remember, though, that these are totally unofficial and unconfirmed.  Could be just a Spellings plot to make you waste time this weekend.] Note to self: join CEF.

Download department_of_ed_state_by_state_funding_with_an_unofficial_fy2009_estimate.xls

Spellings, Jessica Alba, & The Polar Bear From Golden Compass

I'm still looking for pics of EdSec Spellings at the SOTU for you check out, but in the meantime thanks to readers for sending in these close-but-not-quite submissions (interpretations?) of the Spellings outfit:

On the left, you have the polar bear from Golden Compass.  This one seems a little harsh.  Spellings looked scary that night, but not quite so ferocious.

On the right, that's starlet Jessica Alba at the Sundance Film Festival (I think). Again, not quite a fair comparison, though the high-necked design does have a resemblance to the Spellings outfit. 

Facts Of The Union 2008

Troubled still by the President's assertion that NCLB is working? The folks at FactCheck.org say that he's not all wrong:

"He was mostly correct in describing progress in test scores since his No Child Left Behind Act was passed, but he overlooked some recent backsliding in reading scores and the fact that some test scores were on an upward trend before the new law went into effect." 

Harsh.  Click here (Facts of the Union 2008) for more details.

UPDATE:  Over at NPR, Larry Ambramson has something to say that many of you will like hearing better:

"Many educators dispute the effectiveness of No Child Left Behind NCLB . Teachers in particular say they re being asked to meet unrealistic standards, and have demanded more flexibility.... [Bush] didn't mention that reading scores in those grades have stagnated, despite No Child Left Behind...What he did not say is that the achievement gap between whites and minorities remains very large."

Link: NPR: Bush Lauds Progress in Iraq, Economic Plan

Alliance Bingo

The Alliance for Excellent Education (no idea) is determined to make a week out of the President's State Of The Union speech tonight, first by demanding that education be a big part of his speech (it won't) and second by encouraging us to play SOTU Bingo (sure, why not?).

Click below for the Alliance's talking points.  Click here for the Bingo thing (via Fritzwire).

Extra points for anyone who can explain what the Alliance is, how it's different from all the other education groups in DC, and why we need it.

Don't Forget NCLB, Says Spellings -- Off To Davos

A few days ago EdSec Spellings sent a letter out to the state education chiefs (Download letter.tif) telling them that the USDE is going to explore legal remedies -- no word on a specific route of appeal.  Foregoing Sundance this year, Spellings is nonetheless headed to Davos, Switzerland for the annual confab of economic powers and thinkers.

Here Come The State Of The Union & The New Budget

It's just three two weeks until the (last) GW Bush state of the union and the rollout of the FY09 budget, but this year there won't be the usual line of folks waiting for their copies of the budget documents, says Fritz of the Fritzwire:  "For the first time, hard copy versions of the Administration’s budget proposal will not be available to the public, but will be accessible in a paperless “E-Budget” format online at www.budget.gov. The online version will be fully searchable and available for downloading."

Where In The World Is Margaret Spellings?

Secretary Spellings is headed West this week for a slew of Washington, Oregon, and California events, according to her press folks:

Wednesday, January 16: 8 a.m. PST Secretary Spellings and Governor Gregoire will host an education policy roundtable with, state legislators, educators and business leaders at Roosevelt Elementary School.  A media availability will follow. OPEN PRESS Olympia, Wash.

Thursday, January 17:  9 a.m. PST  Secretary Spellings will deliver remarks on No Child Left Behind before the Oregon State Board of Education at the Public Services Building.  A media availability will follow. OPEN PRESS  Salem, Ore. 10:45 a.m. PSTSecretary Spellings will visit Auburn Elementary School with Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo and tour classrooms, visit with students and teachers and deliver remarks at a school assembly.  A media availability will follow. OPEN PRESS Salem, Ore. 1:10 p.m. PST Secretary Spellings will host a Hispanic Roundtable with local Hispanic leaders at the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. OPEN PRESS Portland, Ore.

Friday, January 18: 10:30 a.m. PST Secretary Spellings and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will tour classrooms and visit with students and teachers at Otay Elementary School.  A media availability will follow. OPEN PRESS San Diego, Calif.

"A Profound And Uncomfortable Transition"

EdSec Spellings gave a speech today on NCLB, including the lines:

We’re in the midst of a profound and often uncomfortable transition. ..Today, we’re taking an honest look at our schools. ..We have to ask, which comes first, politics or kids?

I'll try to get video or audio of the speech, or someone's description of the event.  In the meantime, you can click below to see the full text, as written. 

There's also a new(?) webpage from the USDE called Mapping The Nation's Progress, which includes state- and national-level data from the past six years of NCLB. I'll give a dollar to anyone who can compare how states do on the USDE site to how they do on the EdWeek report that's just out, Quality Counts.

Bush Teaches Chicago Students How To Figure Out Volumes & Surface Areas

From this picture, it almost looks like President Bush is teaching class. Imagine:

"Now, class," said President Bush as he strode to the other side of the blackboard. 

"Pay attention.  Like I explained yesterday, here's what you need to know about calculating volumes and surface areas."

Then, a moment later:  "Xavier, give Tesha her pencil back."

Bush To Celebrate NCLB Anniv. In Chicago...And Eat Pizza

This is so delicious it's hard to believe it's true.  According to the Tribune's Washington DC blog, President Bush is coming to Chicago on Monday to celebrate NCLB's many achievements -- and enjoy some pizza.  I guess Chicago has become sort of mecca for NCLB implementation?  How this decision got made, I have no idea.  It's going to be a week after the Iowa caucus and the day before the New Hampshire primary.  I guess going to New York City is out for political reasons.  White House press secretary Dana Perino joked that the motivation for the visit was to have some deep dish.

"Put Your Big-Girl Panties On," Says Spellings

EdSec Spellings makes it to Number Four on Time Magazine's list of T-Shirt Worthy slogans for 2007 with this instruction apparently given to incoming White House spokesperson Dana Perino on the occasion of her getting the job.

This sounds to me like a female, Texas version of the now-ubiquitous instruction that is given to "man up."

Of course, there are many women who man up more often than men, and several men I can think of who really need to put their big-girl panties on. 

Clean Up NAEP Variations Before Giving It More Work

The NY Times editorial page jumps into education waters with this strangely mis-timed clunker on national testing (Test and Switch).  In it, the Times calls for various baby steps towards a rigorous and comparable national test -- a NAEP-created test offered to states, a national list of states using weak homegrown versions.  That's all well and good, I suppose, except for the fact that NAEP is having its own uniformity and rigor problems.  According to the NY Sun and... no one else ...  some districts are handing out NAEP accommodations like those cheap Frisbees they give out when a new bank branch opens on the corner. Maybe NAEP should handle that one before we give it a broader scope of work?  Or maybe I just woke up on the wrong side again.

"Porn-Named" USDE Staffer Heads North

He isn't the first, and he won't be the last. 

What high-level communications guru with what Wonkette readers once called a "porn name" is leaving the USDE for the Big Apple? 

Check here at the new wiki page for communications folks to find out -- and feel free to add or correct or edit anything you'd like. 

You communications people move around like hummingbirds, always jumping to the next best job. 

Where's Margarita?

Our travel-loving EdSec (apparently known to her boss as "Margarita") is off to Germany this week, with public events in Bonn on Wednesday and Thursday. 

"Wednesday, November 21 3:40 p.m. CET  Secretary Spellings will deliver remarks at the Ministerial Panel on "Relevance and Quality – What are the Challenges?" during the Third Ministerial Meeting on Education of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) countries and the Group of Eight (G8).  On Thursday, November 22 9 a.m. CET  Secretary Spellings will be attending the Third Ministerial Meeting on Education of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) countries and the Group of Eight (G8)." 

Germany in November -- is that a trip all her staff want to go on (side trip to Berlin!) or no (week of Thanksgiving!).  I'm thinking no.

Urban NAEP Scores Coverage

Want to know how the major papers covered the release of the urban NAEP scores yesterday?  Here you go:

Urban students' scores improve AP
National praise for ATL test scores AJC
Students up in math, but not reading LAT
National data show Chicago students lagging Tribune
Little Progress for City Schools NYT
Scores on Urban NAEP Inch Up EdWeek

Broken Embargo: Early Urban NAEP Scores*

The new urban NAEP scores aren't supposed to be out until later this morning, but there's at least one story out already on the new results:

City Students Stalled on National Education Tests NY Sun
In the city, 41% of eighth-graders cannot perform basic reading, up from 38% in 2003, the first year scores were reported, and above the percentages in Houston and Chicago, 37% and 39% respectively. On the math test, 43% of eighth-graders scored below basic, compared with 46% in 2003.

The full results for 11 districts will be out later, and the EdSec is doing an event in Atlanta.  No, that's not a depiction of her in the poster.

*Apparently the embargo wasn't broken.  Under the somewhat made-up sounding rules of journalism, an embargo is only good if both sides agree to it ahead of time.  (That is, if you send me something under embargo but I haven't agreed ahead of time, the embargo is no good.)  Not it! 

International Ray Simon Week

Officially, it's International Education Week.  But as this official schedule shows (see below), it's really Ray Simon week.  The deputy secretary must've drawn the short straw to get roped into all these events.  Or maybe Spellings does that "heads, I win -- tails you lose" thing. 

NAEP Goes To Atlanta

They're announcing the urban NAEP scores this week on Thursday morning and the EdSec is doing an event in Atlanta, one of the 11 cities participating in this pilot now in its 4th year (http://nationsreportcard.gov/.).  Watch out, teachers and parents from Venetian Elementary School.  Here she comes.

National Standards A "Giant Time-Waster," Says Spellings

"I don't think the way to do it is a one-size-fits-all national standard that morphs into a national curriculum that morphs into national textbooks," says EdSec Spellings in this US News interview. 

"It's the wrong way to go, and it's a giant time-waster."

I'm actually a proponent of national standards, and pushed for them mightily when I worked in the Senate for Jeff Bingaman.  But the politics are all wrong on this right now. 

Veto Threat Over NCLB Reauthorization

It seemed like it was coming, what with Spellings hinting at it last month and all the fun that's been had over the SCHIP veto. And this President has never lacked for confidence, warranted or not. So, yesterday, the President said he'd veto any effort to reauthorize NCLB without maintaining its main provisions (President Bush Discusses The Budget):

"We're teaching a child to read so they can pass a reading test....I believe in local control of schools. That's up to you to chart the path to excellence. But it's up to us to make sure your money is spent wisely...I believe this piece of legislation is important, and I believe it's hopeful, and I believe it's necessary to make sure we got a educated group of students who can compete in the global economy when they get older. Yes, sir."

Bush's No-Name Cabinet

Slate magazine recently ran this piece about how unknown most of Bush's cabinet are, even compared to other unknown cabinets (A Bush Cabinet quiz). Much of it is due to the fact that, so late into a second term, only the most desperate opportunists are clamoring to join the Administration. The other, according to the article, is that so much of Bush's domestic agenda (such as it is) came from Karl Rove, not the DPC (currently headed by Karl Zinsmeister) or the departments themselves.

Spellings Spills To National Journal

There's not much that's really new or interesting in too many education stories these days, but not so in National Journal's Q and A with Secretary Spellings from Friday (Improving on '99.9% Pure' $$). In an interview with reporter Lisa Caruso (pictured), Spellings mocks multiple measures as do-it-yourself school reform, says that more money for NCLB will only come with a new iteration of the law, walks back from earlier statements about preferring current law to the Miller proposal, declines to apologize for the infamous Ivory Soap remark, and explains the origin of her Bush nickname. That's good stuff. The only thing missing from Caruso's piece is an in-depth analysis of what Spellings was wearing. (The black pantsuit? The big broach?) Find a friend who has a subscription. Related post here.

President Announces New NCLB Strategery

From the White House NCLB event going on right about now:

"Secretary Spellings and I are so pleased to welcome you all to the Roosevelt Room. With us today are a group of concerned citizens from a variety of groups, here to discuss the No Child Left Behind Act. People around this table care deeply about making sure every child gets a good education. We're deeply concerned about school systems that don't focus on each individual. Some school systems are just moving kids through, and as a result, our education system is letting too many children down, too many families without hope.

"So we're going to strategize [see, he almost said it] and work together to make sure the No Child Left Behind Act is reauthorized and made stronger. And so I want to thank you all for coming. I love your passion. I appreciate the fact that you care deeply about the future of this country, and that you believe, like I believe, every child can learn and we have an obligation to teach every child how to read and write and add and subtract.

"So thank you for joining us. We'll see you all in the Rose Garden here in a minute."

White House NCLB Event Later Today

I don't know who the attendees are yet, but the President and the EdSec are doing a White House event on NCLB today in the Roosevelt Room, followed by a Rose Garden statement by the Prez. Stay tuned. Could be fun. Feel free to email snarky comments or fashion tidbits if you're there. That's what BlackBerrys are for. (thisweekineducation at gmail dot com, or 312-286-9242)

George W. Bush Was "Mainstreamed," Says Conservative Columnist

Everyone hates conservative columnist Ann Coulter right now (she recently joked that perhaps women shouldn't get to vote). But she did write something a little funnier in her new book: "“President George W. Bush is evidently the first mentally retarded person to get a Harvard M.B.A., graduate from the U.S. Air Force Flight School, be elected governor of Texas and then be elected President of the United States twice. I Guess that's what they call 'mainstreaming.'” Yikes.