The fall in state and local revenues has been serious, saved only by approximately $100 billion in federal stimulus funds for schools. Although the data are hard to find. . . .
When standardized test scores these days don’t conform to the demands of the official political playbook written by the bold reformers, as they like to be known, those test scores may be summarily denounced in the press as meaningless...
But rewarding laggards for promises, instead of achievers for their successes, rewards state and local officials for the very behavior one wishes to discourage...