This is not just about Lautenberg. It's really more of an intra-party squabble. Norcross, the southern Jersey boss is making a power play. He feels he and his people have been shut out recently [see, e.g., Corzine's pick of Menendez over Andrews; loss of some southern Jersey pork] and wants some payback. If he waits for an orderly transition, his guy, Andrews, may still lose out to one of the other ambitious Dem reps like Pallone or Holt. Norcross knows that Andrews stand a better chance in a primary against the octogenarian Lautenberg than against Pallone or Holt next time around. Norcross is also looking to cut Dick Codey, who controls the pork in the Senate, down to size and has found some allies in Bergen, Hudson & even Codey's own Essex counties. Even if his audacious ploy doesn't work, I think he will score points by showing some balls.

Posted at April 8, 2008 2:50 PM in response to New Jersey Dem Establishment Struggles To Squash Upstart Challenge To Lautenberg

This discussion seems to be missing one of the central points of the original:  NCLB's pitting of lower achieving kids against higher achieving kids in the competition for scarce educational resources. This is a real problem.  I sit on a school board in suburban New Jersey where, because of a draconian school finance statutute, we are compelled to cut the budget year after year.  Given the severe penalties built into NCLB, in deciding what to cut, it is a no brainer.  We are not going to get nailed for having inferior programs for gifted students or, even,for those who are merely proficient.  We can, however, suffer crippling penalties for not getting lower achieving students over the "proficiency" bar. 

This is, in part, what NCLB was designed to do:  drive a wedge between the middle class and the public schools to pave the way for vouchers.  This debate is evidence that it is succeeding.  For further evidence see yesterday's front page article in the New Yor Times where middle class parents are chafing against what they perceive as Chancellor's Klein's effort to turn schools into de facto test prep centers.  As the NCLB continues to raise the "proficiency" standards, this is exactly what more and more US public schools are going to look like.

Posted at December 28, 2005 5:03 AM in response to Gifted Children Left Behind?

Bush's speech failed to answer the one question that, to date, the administration has never answered:  what does victory look like?

Posted at June 29, 2005 11:28 AM in response to The Essential Tension