For all you soon to be edjurists and ed. policy
folks out there (as well as everyone who thinks they are presently), this blog
entry at the Quick and the Ed is an
absolute MUST READ. It has been a little while since I heard such an accurate
account of education policy (as I spend most of my time in the academy - and we
all know they don't have a clue for the most part).



The story is on full-day kindergarten in Indiana.
And, as a temporary Hoosier, the issue is hot on
the table right now. Speaking with some current administrators, they are
finding ways to make it work as we speak, even without legislative approval.



However, the point is not the Hoosier policy, the point is how the policy
process happens. We all like to think it is clean and represents everybody,
but, as Kevin reminds us, it is far from that. However, we should not despair.
At least we have good people like Kevin in those conference rooms; we just
don't have enough of them that are familiar with education and its day to day
issues. We cannot continue to let these hugely important decisions be
undertaken by people with an undergrad political science degree.  We need
ed. policy and law experts, and until we have them there is no way to control
the randomness of education policy. We just have to continue to take what they
give us.