Andy Rotherham with good news about new House leader John Boehner:

First, the good news: Boehner cares deeply about education — and not just when he's stumping on campaign trails. He was one of the "big four" — along with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, Republican Senator Judd Gregg and Democratic Representative George Miller — who helped craft the bipartisan No Child Left Behind legislation that was signed into law in 2002. Boehner and Kennedy also hosted annual dinners in Washington, D.C., that raised millions of dollars for Catholic schools in the city. (See what makes a school great.)

As a result of his policy initiatives, Boehner is well regarded by many in the education community. Though he started his career as a bomb thrower, he evolved into someone even Democrats describe as a sincere legislator interested in practical solutions to education problems. He's "very adult, in the sense that he's a tough negotiator, but he realized always where he needed to find middle ground and was willing to reach that middle ground after making his case," observes Charles Barone, a former top education aide to Miller, the current chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

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School of Thought

Will John Boehner Be Good for Education?

By Andrew J. Rotherham Thursday, Nov. 04, 2010

www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2029309,00.html#ixzz14eUHzdW0

What do Tuesday's election results mean for education reform? Kentucky's Rand Paul is among the newly elected candidates who want to dismantle the Department of Education. That won't happen, but what lies ahead for our students and teachers? Right now all eyes are on John Boehner, the Ohio Republican expected to become Speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January. A seasoned negotiator who in the past has succeeded in passing education laws, he could hold sway over policymaking in Washington. But in many ways, his views about education matter less than the question of what he can accomplish given the fractious caucus he will be leading.