Though this WaPo headline says that the "GOP [is] Leaving ???No Child' Behind," the rise of Representative John P. Kline to ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee might be more nuanced. The sense is that Kline is a federalist, emphasizing "maximum latitude" to states on education. He says he doesn't just want to "tweak" the law, but to take a look at the whole thing. But his reported reaction to a conversation with Secretary Duncan makes it sound like Kline isn't so federalist after all.
"He feels the same sense of urgency I do, that we need to get dramatically better," Duncan said later. Duncan said he told Kline that he wants to push for higher academic standards but giving schools more flexibility to achieve them--"be much looser at the local level, let folks innovate." Duncan said that message "seemed to resonate with him."
Whether those "higher academic standards" occur at the national level in Kline's vision for NCLB is unclear but that it sounds like Kline wants to flip the law on his head--set standards at the top but let states figure out how to meet them--is more "reform realist" than states' rights. Kline might want to take a look at Fordham's suggestions for how to turn this vision into reality.
