Karen’s “blog” on NCLB is right on. Conservatives in no way should be lending support to this law. Indeed this issue is completely turned on its head and it shows how the unprincipled actions of Republican presidents can lead to the deterioration of support for core conservative principles in general.
For years conservatives have been arguing that the federal government has no constitutional role in education. Indeed, conservatives have argued that the federal Department of Education has no constitutional legitimacy. Then George Bush comes along and presides over the largest expansion of the federal government into the local education decision making ever. What do we find? Conservatives supporting it and the NEA opposing it. Conservatives will never again be able to stand on constitutional principles of federalism when discussing education. Thank you George–“the compassionate”–Bush and shame on all those conservatives who lend themselves to the further erosion of our principles by finding exceptions for Republican presidents.
The question I want to ask to those conservatives who support NCLB is, would your position be the same if this legislation was Bill Clinton’s brainchild rather than George Bush’s?
