Let's hope this article is wrong about Obama's priorities.  A key litmus test of whether he's serious about reform is who he picks to be Sec. of Education (more thoughts on this later):

Critics of the Bush administration's education policies had hoped that putting a Democrat in the White House would mean dramatic changes, including the potential scrapping of the No Child Left Behind law and its reliance on standardized testing, as well as more federal dollars for schools.

But with the financial crisis and other priorities bearing down, President-elect Barack Obama's education initiatives -- at least early in his term -- are expected to be more about tinkering than bold change.

Although he has said education is an issue close to his heart, in an interview late last month with CNN he listed it as fifth among his priorities, after the economy, energy independence, a health-care overhaul and tax cuts for the middle class.

As American students fall behind many of their peers abroad, business leaders and others have said education must be a top priority if the nation is to produce a work force that is more competitive.

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NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Obama Is Expected to Put Education Overhaul on Back Burner

By ROBERT TOMSHO and JOHN HECHINGER

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122636225053515663.html

Critics of the Bush administration's education policies had hoped that putting a Democrat in the White House would mean dramatic changes, including the potential scrapping of the No Child Left Behind law and its reliance on standardized testing, as well as more federal dollars for schools.

But with the financial crisis and other priorities bearing down, President-elect Barack Obama's education initiatives -- at least early in his term -- are expected to be more about tinkering than bold change.