A fresh Obama strategy?

Here's the case for encouraging Obama to take up the boys-in-trouble issue in the campaign as a way of reaching out to working class families. Full disclosure: I wrote it.

Richard Whitmire

Obama as a closet reformer?

Over the past months we've seen hints that Barack Obama may have well-concealed sympathies for school vouchers or performance pay -- but the hints are then quickly muddied by Obama staffers who insist he hews to the conventional platforms of the teachers' unions. Only the general election, or the presidency, will tell for sure. But there's a case to be made that school reform may be Obama's one departure from a purely liberal line, and the case is made here.

Richard Whitmire

McCain Wades Into Autism Controversy

Now that John McCain is the Republican nominee for president, a lot of people are paying far more attention to what he says on the campaign trail.

And although he doesn't talk much about education, he may have stepped on a landmine when he waded into the controversial area of what causes autism. Specifically, he said there's "strong evidence" that a preservative in vaccines is causing autism, according to this New York Times story.

What strong evidence?

I asked a colleague who knows far more about special education issues. And as Christina Samuels points out in her blog post, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no link.

Of course, there are a lot of parents out there who don't believe that. (Update: Plus, I found this story in yesterday's USA Today.) The question is, has McCain taken the time to look into all the evidence out there?

Newest editorial

Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, posts an op-ed decrying the fact that none of the presidential candidates has taken up EWA's call to be interviewed by a panel of education reporters about their views on the issue. We're still waiting.