By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

For what has been described in the Wall Street Journal as the “worst bill ever,” Congressional Republicans certainly seem to be padding their list of grievances over the House health care bill with things that are less scary and more, well … sensible.

The House Republican Conference has kindly given reporters a directory of provisions in the bill found to be “egregious, questionable, or potentially absurd.”

Included in this list is a reference to page 872-Section 1433, which, in the conference’s words, “requires the director of food services at nursing facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to hold ‘military, academic, or other qualifications’ as determined by federal bureaucrats.”

Sans the editorial liberty taken to invoke the specter of spooky federal bureaucrats, one is left to wonder what about this requirement is particularly egregious, questionable or potentially absurd. After all, this is a warning from the party that has portrayed seniors as sacred cows throughout the entire health care debate, from threats that Obamacare would pull the plug on grandma to suddenly realizing that Medicare isn’t as bad as it was forty years ago. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the staff that tends dear old granny’s meals be qualified? Especially through an academic or military institution?

When asked for clarification, a staffer for a high-ranking Republican representative simply responded that it is a sign of more government intrusion into the lives of Americans.

Of course, the American people whose lives are being intruded upon by this provision are seniors living in nursing homes funded by Medicare. So to summarize: Medicare is an untouchable institution, but requiring
a director that either directly or indirectly benefits from Medicare funds to be properly trained is an intrusion.

Fair enough, if you perform adequate mental gymnastics. That is, until you consider how closely this resembles a provision included in No Child Left Behind, an act proposed by a Republican President and passed through a GOP-controlled Congress.

According to Part A, Section 119, “Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this part shall ensure that all teachers hired after such day and teaching in a program supported with funds under this part are highly qualified.”

All one needs to do is add “by federal bureaucrats” to the end of this sentence and voila: government intrusion.

In the film Citizen Kane, the character Leland tells Charles Foster Kane “You don’t care about anything except you… you want love on your own terms. Something to be played your way, according to your rules.”

This seems to embody the Republican mentality post-2006. So-called dithering on Afghanistan, appointing high-profile czars or, in this case, requiring recipients of government funds to fit the right
profile is fine if you’re in the right party, but try it as a Democrat and suddenly it’s egregious, questionable, or potentially absurd. It’s a double standard.

Either that, or the Republican Conference is grasping at straws.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called upon his Democratic colleagues to slow down the health care reform process, pointing to the lengths of time it took the Senate to tackle other crucial issues.

“Some would argue that [health care reform] is a bigger issue than No Child Left Behind. We sent seven weeks on that,” McConnell said. “Some would argue that this is a bigger issue than Energy, we spent eight weeks on that.”

 

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By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

Education Secretary Arne Duncan tells how the program “No Child Left Behind” was very loose on goals and that the new policies will rise the bar of education by giving more autonomy to states and districts. (0:36)

 

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“Let’s choose to advance, not retreat,” said Randi Weingarten, the newly elected president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), who held a press conference on Education and the Economy today. Weingarten continued, “with the exception of vouchers, which siphon scarce resources from public schools, n issue should be off the table, provided it is good for children and fair to teachers.”

The mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg (I-N.Y.), enthusiastically introduced Weingarten as a woman who brought great educational reform to new York City, increased teachers salaries across the board by 43% since 2002, eliminated forced transfers to more challenging schools, and balanced out the number of experienced teachers at each school.

Weingarten said the federal No Child Left Behind Act “has become a stand-in for real discussions at the state and national levels about a robust education policy that prepares our children for the 21st century,” and offered several suggestions for education reform. These included providing universal early childhood education, expanding teacher induction, and having schools offer social services throughout the day such as child care, night classes, dental and medical care, and after school services.

Weingarten also supports teacher tenure, but said it isn’t “a guarantee of a job for life.” She supports peer monitoring and review programs in order to ensure tenured teacher quality. In regard to differentiated pay, Weingarten supports paying more to teachers who take on additional responsibilities, work in hard-to-staff schools or subjects, and who are mentors for their fellow teachers.

The Intel Corporation is committing a global investment of $120 million over the next 10 years for Science Competitions, Youth Outreach, and the Online Science Community. Will Swope, Intel’s Vice President and General Manager, made the announcement this morning at the U.S. news & World Report Education Summit on “America’s High Schools: What Works? What’s Next?” Swope said “I can’t think of a more critical time to invest in math and science education.”

Speaking at the same event was Joel L. Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. With the current economic crisis, Klein suggests we “let schools decide” how to fund schools focusing on “student based budgeting”. Klein said “the kid carries the dollar through the system,” and encourages wise educational funding now more than ever.

Klein emphasized two things that he knows works in improving our education system; improving education before students reach the high school level, and creating high standards and assessments on the national level instead of state. Klein credited the No Child Left Behind Act for “creating accountability in the education system”, such as the “pay for performance” proposition, and focus on year to year progress as opposed to regional academic proficiency.

Lauren Resnick speaks about the problems with No Child Left Behind at a panel discussion hosted by the Century Foundation

 

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Claudio Sanchez discusses the negative opinion most Americans hold on No Child Left Behind.

 

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The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is meeting in Washington, D.C. this week for their 2008 Legislative Conference. They held an education policy discussion this morning with the presidential campaigns. Catherine Brown from Sen. Clinton’s campaign, Phil Handy from Sen. McCain’s campaign, and Steve Robinson from Sen. Obama’s campaign each spoke on their candidate’s top issues for education.
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Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA) states that the No Child Left Behind Policy is simply a testing program, and “not a quality education program.” She further comments that you cannot pick and choose which schools to fund, but that all schools deserve equal funding.

 

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Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) comments on the efficacy of Pell Grants for younger children, and believes in public education. She believes that the No Child Left Behind policy succeeded in what it aimed to do.

 

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