Too Much Of A Slog

Posted: January 25th, 2013 | Author: Michael Goldstein | | No Comments »

“Will the Obama Administration be able to take concrete steps to improve teacher preparation in 2013?”

Whiteboard Advisors is a business that surveys political insiders. Via Eduwonk, here is what the insiders predicted: 64% said “No.”

Why or Why Not?

• “No money for incentives to drive change.”

• “The ed schools know how to fight this stuff off, if the Administration thought the for-profits were tough just wait.”

• “Depends on Congress, which is unknowable at this time. (So far we have zero evidence that the new Congress will accomplish anything on any topic.)”

• “It’s too much of a slog and the unions hate it. They will turn their attention to technology.”

• “The final steps of the negotiated rulemaking process are overdue and will be acted upon.”

• “They don’t know how to work with Congress and their regulatory proposals are meaningless.”

• “The work will be done outside of the administration. While an interest not a high priority and not much can be done other than using the bully pulpit.”

• “I say no, meaning they don’t really have the authority to do much, but they‘ll likely find some thin reed to base changes either through regs, guidance, etc.”

• “It sounds like this is a priority for the Department, and the AACTE has already tried to make inroads on Capitol Hill.”

Mark me down as naively hopeful.