Like-minded
Three of the nation’s leading advocates for standards-based education reform — former Washington, D.C., chancellor of schools Michelle Rhee, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta — called for teacher accountability and scalable school reforms during a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School Thursday night (Nov. 18). “Strange Bedfellows: The Politics of Education and the Future of Reform” drew a crowd to the Institute of Politics’ (IOP) John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. The event’s name was somewhat ironic, given the ease and agreement with which the big-name panelists dove into the major education issues of the day. “It’s like we have Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner together on the same stage,” said moderator Margaret Spellings, secretary of education under George W. Bush. (For the many undergraduates in the audience, Spellings translated her reference to Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga, drawing laughter.) The...