The head of the White House Domestic Policy Council believes education is the issue that will unite the country. So, too, does the nation's secretary of education, Arne Duncan. Duncan, doing his best Margaret Spellings self-interrogation impression, told (asked?) Politico, ?Am I hopeful? Absolutely. Am I optimistic? Yes. Do I think it's the right thing to do for children, for the country? Absolutely.? His boss was similarly optimistic about the potential for political concordance on schools. Said the president yesterday:
I think everybody in this country thinks that we've got to make sure our kids are equipped in terms of their education, their science background, their math backgrounds to compete in this new global economy. And that's going to be an area where I think there's potential common ground.
But will Republicans be so eager to find common ground?
?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow