I haven’t been following the issue of Armstrong Williams nearly as closely as I should, but Michelle Malkin continues to follow the story closely. Williams was a radio talk-show host and conservative columnist who was found to have been given nearly a quarter of a million dollars by the Department of Education in order to flog the No Child Left Behind Act.
As a conservative, I’m livid over this. First of all, Williams continues to insist that he did nothing wrong. However, not disclosing that you’re getting paid to shill for someone is certainly unethical, and taking government money may very well be illegal. William’s actions are completely indefensible, and the fact that someone thought this might be a good idea is extremely disturbing.
The No Child Left Behind Act is a betrayal of conservative values. While it has had some positive effects, it continues the increasing federalization of education, a trend that has hampered teachers and reduced educational quality nationwide for decades. On the issue of education, the Republican Party differs only from the Democrats in that the Democrats can at least be expected to get votes for being a slavishly adherent to the teacher’s unions. The Republicans have no excuse.
No wonder the Department of Education had to pay shills to talk up the bill — it was such a bad piece of legislation that no one would have accepted it otherwise. Congress would be wise to reappropriate the money from No Child Left Behind back to the states who can give teachers the funding and tools they need rather than the one-size fits all dreck that some bureaucrat in DC thinks they need. A truly conservative solution does not involve sinking billions in federal dollars into a program that puts the interests of bureaucrats above those of teachers. As one teacher writes to Malkin:
I’m a public school teacher in an “urban” school district in suburban Detroit. Here is the short version of my NCLB nightmare.
After battling administrators, I was finally able to bring trainers into the district to teach a phonetic language arts method.
A few of us took the training, we used it in the classroom. Results were great. The superintendent and our district reading coordinator (whom I had to battle to get the training) loved what was happening.
NCLB comes along. Our reading coordinator smells the money, and applies for a Reading First grant. She’s approved and we’re stuck using a government-approved, whole-language reading series.
Since it only covers grades K-3, I moved to 4th, where I’ve been teaching my students to read, write, and spell the right way. My big decision now is: do we read Hamlet, Macbeth, or Julius Ceasar in the spring? Otherwise, I will be watching the parade of illiterates pass through our district.
President Bush got elected largely because of the support of American conservatives. Between this and his disastrous and foolish non-amnesty amnesty program for illegal immigrants he is in real danger of splitting that coalition. Bush has promised to spend the political capital he earned in the election — too bad he is spending it so unwisely.
UPDATE: Yes, yes, I know that Kos was also in the pocket of the Dean campaign. First of all, anyone who doesn’t know that Kos is the worst kind of political whore by now has been living under a rock for the past year. Secondly, Kos did disclose that he was working for the Dean campaign, and as I recall he disclosed it more than once. Finally, that doesn’t in any way justify unethical behavior. Just because they do it doesn’t give us the right to do — I see that argument from the Democrats all the time, and it’s no less egregious when applied to those I happen to agree with.
Interesting how the latest Bush administration scandal angers you from two different angles….Armstrong Williams being a punk for being on the receiving end of the bribe, and the No Child Left Behind legislation in general. Does your whip hand not have the necessary thrust to deliver one more lashing to the most indictable party of all….the Bush administration for offering up the bribe? Blaming Williams alone is likely prosecuting only the hitman involved in an assassination but letting the paymasters off.
As for your criticism of No Child Left Behind, it really strikes me as odd how many of the Bush administration dirty tricks you haven’t been sufficiently apprised of. The deal Ted Kennedy and the donks made when they agreed to vote for NCLB is an exchange of accountability for increased funding. Before the ink was even dry, Bush whited out several of the provisions to increase education funding and left the country with a perfect formula to destroy public education. The perennially rising student performance requirements that NCLB demands of schools will ultimately brand schools with fewer than 100% passing scores on standardized tests as “failures”. Each year, the threshold of success rises to unsustainably high levels, meaning an ever-increasing number of districts will be listed on the front page of their area newspaper as failing schools.
It should be painfully clear that the endgame of artificially expanding the ranks of “failing schools” is to turn public opinion against public education. The only way the GOP will ever be able to sell their school voucher scheme is to convince suburbanites that their public schools are failing them. If you are serious in your desire to see vouchers realized, you’d best get on board and support NCLB like your fearless leader wants.
And by the way, what the deal with the comments list on the Hardee’s Thickburger thread?
Jay,
I could not have said it any better. You summed up muhc of what I have been thinking perfectly. I am afraid that the administration is overplaying it hand in a great number of matters. No Child Left Behind has been a disaster in regard to its effects in local communities.
Your insight into these issues continues to be second to none. Your Blog is what inspired me to start my own. Keep upo the great work!