Alyson Klein at Education Week 's Campaign K-12 picks up on my "scalpel " post to dig into the likely candidates for Barack Obama's knife, were he to win the presidency. ??After referring to "my" list of federal education programs that don't work (actually, it's the Administration's list, based on a systematic review of their evidence of effectiveness or lack thereof), she writes:
But many of the programs on this list are absolutely, never ever going to be on the chopping block during an Obama administration and not just because Congress isn't likely to go along with the cuts, but because Obama himself has championed them.
She mentions the Teacher Quality Enhancement grants, Even Start, and the Parent Information Resource Centers. And surely Klein is right--Obama is unlikely to kill any of these. Which is a real shame, coming from a candidate who argues that budgeting should be based on our "values." Yes, we value teacher quality, and an even playing field, and parental involvement. But we should also value results, and these programs haven't achieved them, over many many years. So which matters more? A program's intentions, or its outcomes? Senator Obama?
