Learning is More Than A Test Score

It is hard to believe that this long roller coaster ride ends tonight. I am betting that the message of hope will prevail. A tipping point is in the air and the electorate seems energized in a way that I cannot recall sensing in my memory with the possible exception of 1968.

Those of us who have been writing about education as an issue in the campaign have seen it overshadowed first by the wars and most recently the economic crisis. Our own subset of pundits are speculating this morning about where education will fall in the priorities of a new administration confronted by a mind-boggling state of affairs. (see EdWeek) Many are gloomy – probably with good reason. I’m not one of them.

If, as many are predicting, this turns out to be a transformative election then I do not see how education can escape the attention it deserves as we engage in a national examination of conscience. If Barak Obama is elected today I believe that he will assemble an administration that understands the inextricable link between a high quality, well-funded, universal system of public education and our future as a nation. We shall see.