John Edwards on NCLB: Now and Then - Education Reform Now

Proud statesman in the Senate or a “hick” who doesn’t know what’s going on? You make the call.

This is what presidential candidate John Edwards said earlier this week in New Hampshire:

“That crowd inside the Beltway in Washington thinks they know everything. … They think everybody else out here in the world – me included – we’re just a bunch of hicks who don’t know what’s going on. Well, I got news for them: There’s a lot of good, smart common sense out here in the real world. That crowd who thinks they know everything, those are the ones who said No Child Left Behind was going to be a wonderful, great panacea.”

But this is what Edwards said about NCLB back in 2001, according to the Congressional Record:

“The bill is a strong one, and I commend my colleagues for recognizing that a quality public education is not a conservative or liberal goal. The education debate in Washington has too often broken down along stale ideological lines. With this bill, we are moving beyond the false choice of greater investment versus stricter accountability.
We’ve struck the right balance by both giving more to our schools and expecting more in return. This bill increases investment in our schools, gives new flexibility to principals and superintendents, encourages high standards for all children, and holds schools accountable for their performance.

Every child in America has a right to a world-class education. This bill enacts the reforms and provides the resources necessary to make this right a reality.”

Crazy Cooter comin atcha!