In just a few minutes, the DC policy scene will be gathering here at Fordham for our third "Great Debate" on pressing education issues of the day. (See my live-blogging of the last one here.)
Today's debate will focus on the future of the Republican Party as it pertains to federal education policy. Squaring off will be Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who also serves as the third-ranking Republican in the Senate. (Of course, he was also the secretary of education and even made the cover of TIME.) And Senator Jim DeMint of South Caroline, described by National Journal as the most conservative member of the Senate. And finally Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware, who also served as a two-term governor of??his state.
The focus of the debate (we hope!) will be Fordham's "Open Letter" to the new Administration and Congress, released in December, and more specifically its call for policymakers to embrace "Reform Realism."
In a nutshell, Reform Realism seeks to advance education reform but with realistic expectations about what Uncle Sam can accomplish from Washington. It contrasts with the "extend NCLB" camp within the GOP, which is pro-reform but (in our view) overly optimistic about the federal government's ability to make things come out right. On the other hand, it also differs from the "local control" school of thought which assumes that the feds can do almost nothing??useful in k-12 schooling, save write checks. We see Reform Realism as somewhere in the middle.
It's our hunch that Mike Castle will argue the "support NCLB, with tweaks" argument; Jim DeMint will??advocate for his A-Plus Act, which pushes toward local control, and that Lamar Alexander will take up the Reform Realism mantle. But who knows; members of Congress tend to speak their own minds. Stay tuned and find out what they have to say, and whether these three key members of Congress, and of the Republican Party, find common ground or sharp areas of disagreement. (Video will be available tomorrow.)
