Ed talk for '08

Now for a bit of blog cross-promotion this afternoon.

The Education Writers Association (whose numbers include yours truly) is presenting a blog leading up to next fall's presidential election. EWA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional group, has tabbed members to track what each of the candidates for both major parties has to say about education as they campaign. It aims to keep education at the fore of the debate as we head toward next November.

Richard Whitmire, editorial writer for USA Today and EWA's president, has also asked all the major-party candidates to sit down one at a time with a panel of three reporters. But, as Whitmire writes in the Orlando Sentinel, "To date, the response from the campaigns has been a polite we'll-get-back-to-you. Apparently, to campaign strategists the idea of an unscripted chat with veteran education writers sounds risky. Better to stick with set speeches."