No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Bush-advanced reauthorisation of the ESEA, has elevated education to the point of being one of the most important of domestic issues. The testing mandates imposed upon states and localities are often costing more than the additional aid offered through the Bill. While technically this is not an unfunded mandated, since no state is required to take any Federal funds, it has had the effect of putting states in a position to shift funds from other purposes to continue to receive Federal funds, or else to withdraw from any federal assistance.

It is interesting that the opposition to the approach crosses partisan lines -- Blue CT and Red UT are among the states most vigorously opposed to the approach.

The Federal government is not fully funding what in theory Bush promised George Miller and Ted Kennedy, which ostensibly is why they agreed to offer the cover of bipartisanship -- the bill was seen as a means of getting more Federal funds for struggling schools and districts. Like many other aspects of Bush policy, this is -- as Jim Hightower pointed out about the man -- another example of all hat and not cattle.

There are further issues involved. The approach of this administration is to move funds away from public schools any way they can. We see this with the support of vouchers in places like Ohio, DC and Florida. We also see under NCLB the shifting of Title I funds to tutoring firms that are run by campaign contributors, just as we can, if we trade the contributions, find ongoing contacts between major players in educational testing firms and the Republicans.

The big lie technique that we have seen on issues like Iraq, Social Security, and the like, is also applied to education. Bush sold himself to the American people largely on the basis of the so-called Texas miracle in education. But there was no such miracle, as had been shown clearly by 2000 in the work by Walt Haney of Boston College. Bush elevated to Secretary of Education a man, Rod Paige, who had presided over one of the most fraudulent reporting and distortion of educational information in Houston. This is now clear, and Paige is now gone, but a lot of damage was done.

My school year just ended. I am tired, and not thinking all that clearly right now. I have written and posted so much on education at dailykos that anything I might offer right now almost seems redundant and repetitive. And yet .. far too few people seem to realize that the battle over our public schools is almost the ground zero of the culture war of which Pat Buchanan spoke at the 1992 Republican National Convention.

Unless and until Democrats/Liberals/Progressives understand the importance of this issue, and stop fighting the battles on grounds defined by those who do not believe in meaningful public schooling, they are abandoning an issue that can cut like a hot knife through butter into the support upon which Republicans depend to keep control of state and local governments. Private or religious schools are not options for most people, and voucher plans do not provide sufficient funds even for most who might consider such an approach for their children. Meanwhile we have people on the religious right attempting to impose their values into school policy and law -- a 3-person committee of the Kansas School Board is back pushing Intelligent design yet again.

If we lose the battles over education and public schools, we lose the future. This is a national issue, with serious state and local dimensions. That it gets so little attention in our political discussions is to me a sign of how much of the real battelground we have already abandoned.

I do not know how much time I will have to post here. And I do not know how many other participants are as yet interested in this issue. I know its importance, and I hope that others will recognize as well that this is ground on which we can persuade people.