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The Obama education strategy: Hire the reformers, bail out the states, buy off the unions

Michael J. Petrilli
12.22.2011

That's what it's starting to look like, at least if the rumors swirling around Washington have any merit. While I strongly doubt that Arne Duncan will put Wendy Kopp, Jon Schnur, and Andy Rotherham in his 1, 2, and 3 spots, it's conceivable that the reform crowd will win the "personnel is policy" game (just not by a landslide). But even more interesting is the news that the "stimulus" package will include an $80 billion fund for education-on top of the $100 billion or so of state bailout funds that will find their way to local school coffers. ...Read it here.

Tags: Arne Duncan Barack Obama Washington Wendy Kopp

President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Michael J. PetrilliĀ is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, editor in chief of the Education Gadfly Weekly, host of the…

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