The New York Times reports today that Senator John McCain is set to meet with three contenders for the VP slot on his ticket: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney; Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
It stands to reason that the vice president in a potential McCain administration would be handed a major role on education policy; after all, McCain himself hasn't shown much interest in the issue in his career or campaign, though that's starting to change a bit. (His education secretary would also have a lot of leeway, or so I argued here.)
So how do these three stack up on the edu-front? Mitt Romney hails from the state with the highest test scores in the country; though he didn't spark the "Massachusetts Miracle," he didn't mess it up, either. And unlike McCain, he did talk a lot about education on the campaign trail, generally in a smart, data-savvy sort of way. It's easy to imagine a Vice President Romney kick-starting Vice President Al Gore's old "reinventing government" work--and applying it thoughtfully to education.
Charlie Crist is another story. He inherited perhaps the fastest-improving state education system in the country; Florida's recent progress for poor and Hispanic children is monumental. But rather than defend the hard-fought gains of his predecessor, Jeb Bush, he seems intent on retreating. He cleared most of Bush's top education advisors out of Tallahassee and has shown an openness to watering down the state's education accountability system. But he's a savvy and popular politician and has been pushing poll-tested policies that play well with the public.
And then there's Jindal. He's still a relative newcomer but, as has been the case throughout his prolific but short career, isn't wasting any time making his mark. He's pushing a school voucher program targeted to poor New Orleans students through his state's legislature; this one has a real shot at becoming law.
Let's be frank: McCain isn't going to make this decision based on education policy (ha!) but on politics. The Wall Street base loves Romney; Jindal excites much of the GOP coalition; Crist buys McCain a win in Florida. But at least it's worth noting that two of the three could plausibly claim the title, "The Education Vice President."
