The Spellings Report: Plausible Denial?

In a speech before the National Council of Negro Women, Margaret Spellings once more gave her perception of reality: (emphasis added)

Last week, I was pleased that a federal district judge in Michigan dismissed a lawsuit against No Child Left Behind. He ruled that this law is a partnership between the federal government and the states—and not a federal mandate.

So. The No Child Left Behind Act is not a mandate but a "partnership" between the states and Washington. I know what kind of partnership this is. It's the kind where if the junior partner doesn't do what the senior partner (that would be The House of Spellings) wants, the junior partner (that would be the states) suddenly finds itself without funding or other resources that are needed to move the organization forward.

Maybe the next time our boss says "We have to have these meetings and do all this paperwork because of NCLB," I'll remember Margaret Spellings mocking us telling us that "NCLB isn't a mandate."

And as for that meeting of the National Council of Negro Women, Margaret Spellings did bring along a little gift for the Dorothy Height, the President Emerita of that organization. She gave Height a gift that, in the Secretary's words, "Only another woman could appreciate." Spellings gave the President Emerita a gold hat.