I was reading a blog post by Jerry Mintz of the Alternative Education Resource Organization. He had traveled recently to Washington and had the opportunity to ask Education Secretary Arne Duncan whether No Child Left Behind would be scrapped. The answer: ”I don’t know. But the name No Child Left Behind is toxic. We will at least change the name!”

Needless to say, this is anything but reassuring. I used to be a program specialist at the U.S. Department of Education (early 90′s) and I will be the first to make what is, in Washington, a political suicide declaration: the U.S. Department of Education (not just NCLB) should be scrapped. With all the money saved by not maintaining several huge office buildings full of paper pushers who do nothing to augment education in this country, we could work wonders with alternative schooling options, charter schools, experiential education facilities, immersion schools, alternative and special education options for those who need or choose them, and much much more.

Oh, and when I was at ED, it was called “Beyond the Year 2000″ and then it was called “Goals 2000″ – it had another name or two before NCLB, but as Barack Obama has himself state, you can put ‘lipstick’ on a pig…. and let me tell you – there is some pork at the USDOE!

- Heather