From a NY Times article titled “Perry Breaks With a Fellow Texan: Bush” comes a link to a National Review story where Texas governor Rick Perry staked out his position in opposition to No Child Left Behind. While commenting on his race against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison he said this:
He winces at the thought of No Child Left Behind. “Yeah, that’s a cool name, but it’s a monstrous intrusion into our affairs. Look, I like George” — George! — “but that’s not good public policy. That’s what Kay didn’t understand. She kept saying, look what I’m doing for you, look what Washington is doing for you. But that’s not what we want.”
Not good public policy, eh?
Perry is not alone amongst republicans who feel similarly. Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann feels the same. With states defying NCLB and its congressional reauthorization in question, two candidates (Perry’s not yet a candidate) on the GOP side opposing a staple of the education reform movement will slowly draw education as an issue into the race for whom will win the 2012 presidential election.
Both the Times and National Review article map out the rift between Perry and the Bush’s and their allies. Personality differences are not enough to explain what is clearly hostile. Could it be that the Bush family – which certainly includes brother Jeb – are so steadfast in their education philosophy that it fuels a political rivalry of enormous proportions?
