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The ad isn't bad, though I'm skeptical that simple sentences asserting that your opponent supports VERY BAD THINGS are actually convincing to anyone, even if they're true. By now, they must just get caught in the electorate's mental filter. But Obama's speech is pretty good. Most of it's standard stuff, and for a more informed perspective, I'm sure Dana will weigh in later today, but I particularly liked this bit:
But in the end, responsibility for our children’s success doesn’t start in Washington. It starts in our homes. It starts in our families. Because no education policy can replace a parent who’s involved in their child’s education from day one, who makes sure their children are in school on time, helps them with their homework after dinner, and attends those parent-teacher conferences. No government program can turn off the TV, or put away the video games, or read to your children.But we can help parents do a better job. That’s why I’ll create a parent report card that will show you whether your kid is on the path to college. We’ll help schools post student progress reports online so you can get a regular update on what kind of grades your child is getting on tests and quizzes from week to week. If your kid is falling behind, or playing hooky, or isn’t on track to go to college or compete for that good paying job, it will be up to you to do something about it.So yes, we need to hold our government accountable. Yes, we have to hold our schools accountable. But we also have to hold ourselves accountable.I'm not sure if a "parent report card" is really the way to go here, but a general emphasis on making it easier for parents to keep up with their kids' progress is the sort of small bore policy that can have some fairly serious impacts. Sadly, the evidence on most every macro-level educational intervention you can think of is fairly mixed, but the evidence on the role of parental involvement is incredibly clear. It's huge. Obama, of course, has no policy lever that will transform a detached parent into an involved one, but if you could make it a lot easier for parents who might be working other jobs and may not themselves be that educated to find easy access points into their child's schooling, that would be a good thing. This is particularly important when the child is very young, and it may require policies that reach beyond schools and into work-life balance issues (generous parental leave and personal day policies, child tax credits, pre-k, etc), but it's effective stuff. Anyway, the whole speech follows the fold:
