EdWeek: New House members and NCLB prospects

The lead article at Education Week this morning reports that freshmen House members may have a lot of influence in NCLB reauthorization. The report covers the views of just a few members, but a couple of interesting summary statements are buried in the article, such as

• "Freshmen seem likely to have the leverage to help reshape some provisions that concern them. And they’re signaling that their support can’t be taken for granted."
• There are 10 freshmen Democrats on the Education Committee.
• The Chairman, Rep. Miller, seems to be taking his time and building some consensus before presenting a reauthorization bill.
• "Despite their desire to reach accord on renewing the NCLB law, many freshman Democrats in the House continue to use heated rhetoric to describe the law. And a few haven’t completely given up on the idea of repealing many of its provisions."
• "Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., a teacher on leave from Mankato, Minn., said his Democratic colleagues in the freshman class generally feel a 'greater sense of urgency' to address issues such as the narrowing of the curriculum and an overemphasis on testing."
• “We can’t afford to return to the status quo that existed before NCLB, but we do have to make improvements to the law that will help us move forward,” Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa said during a recent conference call with his constituents.
• "Rep. Miller will need to garner as many votes as possible from within his own party, in part because 60 GOP members—including at least four of the 13 freshman Republicans—have signed onto a bill sponsored by Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., that would allow states to opt out of NCLB’S accountability requirements."