By Joe Williams
(From redefinED, August 15th, 2012)
I spend a lot of my time navigating the tumultuous internal conflicts and ideological inconsistencies within my party, the Democratic Party, when it comes to public education. In fact, that’s more or less my job description. So I have to admit that it is somewhat pleasurable to watch the emergence of similar tensions on the other side of the aisle amongst my Republican allies, especially when it comes to education reform and school choice. Maybe pleasurable is not the right word. Perhaps it’s perplexing. Even a little depressing.
Nearly a year ago, we watched with great interest as a fascinating left-right alliance formed in Washington between the teachers unions (who didn’t like the concept of federal accountability in schools) and the Tea Party (which didn’t like the idea of any kind of federal involvement in schools). Together, this alliance wound up shaping proposed changes to existing federal law that would let states and districts off the hook for improving the academic performance of millions of disadvantaged children. Historically reasonable folks like poor John Boehner started looking like the helpless, powerless substitute teachers we used to torment back in middle school.
I don’t intend this to kick a speaker while he is down, but to point out the obvious as Republicans consider their path on education issues: they have to figure out whether they are Boehner Republicans (willing to cut a deal involving a federal role in school choice and accountability issues) or Tea Party Republicans (who would seem happiest if there were no schools, let alone taxpayer-supported public schools). They need to figure out who among them is willing to let the federal government act as a catalyst for some key needed policy changes, and who among them oppose any federal education policy whatsoever just as a misguided point of principle.
I don’t mention this glibly. The tremendous pull that the Tea Party has had on domestic policy issues, including education, has folks on our side of the aisle looking back longingly at the groundbreaking work that President George W. Bush and Boehner were able to accomplish with liberal icons like Senator Teddy Kennedy and Rep. George Miller. You know, back in the good old days where at least both parties agreed that government could be an enabler of good, rather than just an overpriced agent of evil.
So, understanding that tips from a Democrat will be taken with a grain of salt at the RNC, I nonetheless offer these nuggets for consideration:
1. Throw the Tea-Baggers under the bus: If you don’t do it for issues of substance, do it for the politics alone.
In 2000, George W. Bush did very well with Hispanics and other emerging voting blocs when he included education as part of his “compassionate conservative” platform. Remember that issues that Republicans claim to support – including school choice – are/can be enabled by the same government that the Tea Party wants to bring to its knees. Speaker Dennis Hastert, like Bush, made a decision at the start of the NCLB process that he was not even going to try to get the votes of arch-conservatives (who would now be called tea-baggers) because he knew that any role for the feds at all with these folks would be considered too much.