The Hill News

This morning I joined “Fox and Friends” to talk about “Promises Kept and Promises Broken” since last year’s State of the Union address. We hit a lot of the big-ticket issues â€" spending, taxation, healthcare reform â€" but there was another promise we didn’t get to touch on: education. 

Considering this is School Choice Week, I was particularly interested in what promises the president made last January about K-12 education. When it comes to education, Obama said, “the idea here is simple. … Instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform â€" reform that raises student achievement.”

I have to admit I was suspicious. Rewarding success? Isn’t that what the DC Opportunity Scholarship program was â€" a successful alternative for D.C. students that! resulted in higher student performance and increased graduation rates? But the president â€" with the help of Democrats in Congress like Sen. Richard Durbin (Ill.) â€" ended that program shortly after arriving in the White House.

Still, that was then, this is now. How did President Obama’s promise to “reward success” hold up over this past year? Turns out, not so well.

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