What's Missing from National Journal's New Education Blog?

National Journal, one of the most important sources of policy and politics journalism for D.C. insiders, just launched a new education blog featuring dozens of education policy experts, D.C. education policy insiders, and even a few elected officials(!). Good stuff. National Journal has long offered really excellent--if unfortunately difficult for most ordinary folks to access--coverage of education policy issues and the political debate around them in Washington.

Just one thing's missing--none of the blog's current, long list of contributors focuses on early childhood education. Only Checker Finn has written extensively on the subject. Not surprisingly, the contributors are primarily K-12 experts, but the blog also includes some very strong higher education voices--including ACE's Terry Hartle and NAF's own MaryEllen McGuire and Michael Dannenberg. Not so for early childhood. Considering that the Obama administration has proposed significant new early education initiatives, this seems like a major oversight.

Our concern is not with National Journal's blog, but with how early education issues are often treated by media outlets. Mainstream outlets tend to treat early childhood education as a sub-component of the lifestyle/parenting/mommy wars/let's-debate-feminism genre, while more policy-oriented outlets tend to view it from a childcare or even welfare reform lens, not as an element in a broader education policy debate around how best to narrow achievement gaps and improve learning for all kids. And certainly not as an important political and policy issue deserving serious coverage and respect in its own right. That leads to an impoverishment of our public and political discourse around both early childhood education and K-12 school reform.

If National Journal would like to add an early education expert's perspective to their blog, here are a few we'd recommend: Danielle Ewen, Libby Doggett, Cornelia Grumann, Sharon Lynn Kagan, David Kirp, Linda Smith.