Many conservatives have touted Mitt Romney as a potential Republican Presidential nominee in 2008. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts governor was the subject of glowing profiles in the National Review and the Weekly Standard. But for conservatives frustrated with the stupefying expansion of the federal government under President Bush, this type of talk can’t be very encouraging:
BOSTON, Sept. 29 – Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has a bold plan to improve public education in his state. It involves new laptops for students, new science and math teachers and, the most ambitious component of all, merit pay tied to classroom performance that could add $5,000 or more to a teacher’s annual salary.
“The ability to close the achievement gap is the civil rights issue of our generation,” Mr. Romney said in an interview, noting concern over test scores as well as the country’s lagging production of scientists and engineers. “This is the way to do it.”
He is betting large sums that his plan can work. The overhaul package he announced last week calls for $46 million in new spending for the 2006 fiscal year and $143 million for 2007.
Tying a teacher’s salary to performance makes sense to me (although I think measuring teacher performance is trickier than, say, giving bonuses to salespeople). But increasing spending, giving free laptops to students and talking of the achievement gap as the, “civil rights issue of our generation” is similar to the “compassionate conservative” tone that President Bush struck in the 2000 campaign. This attitude is what led to, among other things, the costly No Child Left Behind Act and perscription drug add on to Medicare.
Loved your piece in The American Spectator. Question: If Abbas is Fredo, does that make Dubya The Godfather? If so, I think The Godfather needs to get tough with Fredo, or at least to stop sending him money if he refuses to act responsibly. Seriously, by continuing to fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which runs the Palestinian schools in which children are brainwashed to dehumanize Israelis and Westerners, and to turn themselves into human bombs/murderers, the U.S. is complicit. No one has been able to explain to me how the systematic indoctrination of the Palestinian people to destroy Israel (an “education” policy initiated by Arafat and continued at present under Abbas with only cosmetic changes), is compatible with a “Road Map” to peace. The whole situation strikes me as Oslo Lite. Check out Palestinian media watch at http://www.pmw.org.il They monitor the contents of Palestinian media, and it continues to be shocking and disgusting.