Education Wonkery

Buried in a “Quick Takes” post a few days ago, Inside Higher Ed had a link to a set of suggestions for improving public education:

Education Sector is offering the following eight education ideas for the 2008 presidential campaign. They cover the educational spectrum, from preschool to higher education. They range in scope from big ideas that would chart entirely new directions for policymaking to others that would simply help schools and colleges improve what they are already doing.

These ideas are neither Democratic nor Republican. They are pragmatic solutions to real problems that both parties can get behind. They have realistic goals and price tags. As a nonpartisan organization, Education Sector hopes to see them reflected in the agendas of both Republican and Democratic candidates.

I’ve glanced over their suggestions, and it looks for the most part like solid, detail-oriented work. They make sensible suggestions, they provide reasonably clear cost estimates, and they give realistic assessments of what constituencies are likely to support and oppose particular measures.

This, of course, means that they’re destined to be relegated to the bottom of “Quick Takes” lists and the equivalent, because thoughtful moderate education policy just doesn’t sell. But if you’re interested in actually improving education, rather than grandstanding about the need to improve education, they’re worth a look.