Five years ago, the Republican Presidential candidate campaigned to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and drastically cut back the federal role in education.
This year, a new Republican President is pledging to dramatically expand the federal role in education and make it his number one domestic priority.
Unfortunately, change and progress are very different things.
Large areas of bipartisan agreement between George W. Bush and congressional Democrats make passage of significant new federal education legislation likely this year. But it's virtually certain that such legislation will not include the resources and programs needed to make dramatic improvements in school districts around the nation. Instead, education advocates will have their work cut out for them fighting to put better options — like more dollars and targeted classroom supports — into the potential federal package, and keeping the worst ones — vouchers and more tests — out.
The key battle will be over Bush's proposal to tie federal aid to mandated annual testing. But the Administration is also seeking "to end the 35-year history of Great Society-style education policies," in the words of one of the President's many ideologically-charged education advisors (see sidebar). Every major federal education program is up for reauthorization in the near future (Title I, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and Head Start), and Bush's highly touted plan is the opening salvo in an effort to redefine federal education policy in new, conservative directions.
For a dubiously-elected President who comes into office with historically low levels of support among African Americans and who has a well-deserved anti-poor, pro-business image, education is an "outreach" issue. It's one of the few areas that allows Bush to posture, however disingenuously, as an ally of poor communities of color, particularly those that have been badly served by public education.