Just received an e-mail from U.S. Senator Patty Murray's office regarding an exchange she had last week with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings about NCLB.
Apparently she had five minutes to question Secretary Spellings about Pres. Bush's plan for NCLB, and made the most of it, to wit:
Q: How Do You Explain that To Educators Who Are Working Their Tails Off?
SENATOR MURRAY:
So, well, the way it sounds to me is, we're making this law try to work. But you continually don't fund it. How do you expect me to do my job?
How do you say that to an educator who is working, you know, 12 hours a day, 40 kids in their classroom, working really hard to meet it and they just feel left behind by this administration?
SECRETARY SPELLINGS:
Well, I would give them that answer, and I'd also say that I think that the policy that's before us now, with more information, more data around kids and their needs has allowed us to be a lot smarter and more precise about the resources we are spending.
SENATOR MURRAY:
Well, they're feeling it out there, and the anxiety is huge. And us Democrats, we're going to put together a budget that tries to meet that better. But it's very frustrating to not have that request come from you at your department where you're the top of Education. And believe me, the people I'm talking to are at the other end of it -- it's very frustrating.
You can view the entire exchange here. Or, sign up for Senator Murray's education updates online, if you'd like to receive her e-mail updates on this issue.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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