Obama and McCain (surrogates) debate on education

From what I can tell, this morning's debate on education was the first time Obama and McCain surrogates have squared off head-to-head as representatives for each party's nominee. If today's event was any indication of the general election, Obama needs to bone up on his specifics.

McCain's surrogate, Lisa Graham Keegan, has been around the block and through her own mini-scandals, but today she was competent and commanding. She easily dismissed a question asking if No Child Left Behind was an "unfunded mandate" by explaining the difference between authorizing and appropriating funds and citing the rise in federal education dollars since Bush took office. Being experienced in education technology, she easily answered a question about ways schools can incorporate it into classrooms and teaching. She even made the audience laugh when quoting Milton Friedman (no small task for a roomful of reporters and educators) saying two things are resistant to technology: Congress and American public schools.

By contrast, Obama's surrogate, Jeanne Century, was vague and elusive. Her answer on the technology question focused on raising the floor and ensuring broadband access. These are great goals, but Century seemed almost awed at technology, discussing cellphones and the Internet in an airy tone suggestive of some far-off future. Century dismissed the Department of Ed's recent focus on "scientifically based research," at one point saying flat-out it, "makes our research less rigorous." I understand that randomly assigned, control group experimental designs limit what can be studied a little due to cost and ethical considerations, but to call it less rigorous is certainly not the right choice of words.

On a question about dual-language programs, Century waffled because we don't know which languages they should be. She cited the statistics that, by 2010, a third of our students will come from a home where the primary language is not English, and that some schools have students with as many as 100 native languages. While these are important numbers to recognize, they shouldn't paralyze us into inaction or discourage dual-language schools and classrooms. We can make some decisions, right?

Most troubling, Century refused to give a concrete example of how to measure effective teaching, instead preferring to defer to local district and union officials to battle it out. In other words, keep the status quo. On an issue some were calling Obama's "Sister Souljah" for his inclusion of merit pay in an NEA address las summer, surely the candidate has a better answer than this.

These events are usually pretty mundane affairs, but I found myself particularly underwhelmed this morning. As someone who usually comes down more on this side of issues, I was dismayed that all the good ideas and all the strength came from McCain and Graham Keegan.