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The debate over reauthorizing No Child Left Behind entered a new phase recently, as Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) scrapped his draft bill in order to start bipartisan negotiations. We don’t yet know how this will change what’s been, to date, a highly partisan and extremely dispiriting public debate. But one thing’s certain: leaders in both parties are interested in finding ways to decrease the federal role in promoting educational equity. In published today, I explain why that’s a serious mistake:

But as is usually the case, outnumbered, unpopular civil rights crusaders have a way of tickling the guilty consciences of those contentedly riding the waves of conventional wisdom. Which is why—in spite of the Beltway consensus on reducing the federal role in public education—Alexander still had to address the issue earlier this month. Asked to respond to those who worry that his NCLB rewrite won’t retain federal protections for “the most vulnerable children—minority kids, non-English speaking kids, [and] poor kids,” Alexander replied:

In the 70s or 80s I might’ve found that more persuasive, but in the Southern United States, where suddenly we have so many African-American mayors and others on local school boards, and that’s not very persuasive to me. I don’t buy the idea that the only people who cherish children are in the United States Senate or the U.S. Department of Education.

Which is, you know, an answer that’s true in a particularly Southern sort of way. For every effort to curb racism in the region for the last 100 years, there’s been a chorus of folks arguing that they’ve already done enough. Or claiming that folks in Washington “don’t understand” their communities’ needs and/or the region’s unique culture.

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