Education pundits.

Bloggers and pundits keep lamenting the fact that education does not seem to be a big issue in the early stages of the ‘08 presidential elections.

I’m not surprised about it.

I heard the whole Democratic field at last summer’s NEA convention in Philadelphia. And I think I said then that you couldn’t see light between the whole bunch of them. Hillary seemed knowledgeable. Obama seemed open to merit pay. They all criticized high stakes testing and hinted at criticism of NCLB. Blah. Blah. Blah. I mean they were talking to 10,000 educators. What were they gonna say?

What I think the electorate is responding to is not what the candidates are for, but what the program of the critics is: Vouchers (voted down when it has been on the ballot. See Utah). More testing and accountability. National standards. The Democratic Centrists including Ed Sector, Billionaires Democrats for Education Reform, the hedge fund school hobbyists, all thought they could hitch their political wagons to these issues. But it just ain’t happening. It’s not that people aren’t interested in education reform and change. They just aren’t thrilled with the choices these so-called reformers are offering.