The New York Times takes a few potshots at the Bush Administration for its happy talk about the recent disappointing NAEP scores, but in doing so, it's nice to see the old grey lady jumping on the reform bandwagon, perceiving a great urgency to start dealing with teacher quality and urging the feds into a "direct confrontation with the politically explosive issue of teacher preparedness."

They note: "Real reform will require better teacher training and higher teacher qualifications, which will in turn mean cracking the whip on teachers' colleges that have basically ignored the standards movement. The federal government was supposed to confront this issue head-on but has tiptoed around it for several years." Should the feds actually do so, however, we won't be wholly surprised if the Times reacts by running stories about how mean the feds are being mean to hard-working teachers.

The Times also has some harsh words about states' gamesmanship on NCLB's teacher quality provisions, observing that "most states have avoided this core issue and simply opted for repackaging a deeply inadequate teacher corps."