Michael Larson rightly points out Senator M. Michael Rounds’s hypocrisy on education policy. Hearing Rounds pat himself on the back for voting for an education bill by declaring that the “one-size-fits-all” No Child Left Behind was “the wrong approach and has led teachers to ‘teach to the test’” reminds Larson that Rounds failed to recognize the flaws in No Child Left Behind when he was Governor:
My beef with his statement is that he is running from his record on education and all of the sudden feels bad about something that he claimed was a good idea. Just like he hates Common Core now, but supported it when he was beginning to run for office.
…I am glad to see the talk about not over-focusing on testing and some other talk, but it would be better if the person saying it didn’t drift in the political winds. If Rounds truly sees the errs of his ways, then he should admit the mistakes and explain why things are really different now [Michael Larson, “Mike Rounds Claims to Care About Education NOW,” Taking a Left Turn in South Dakota, 2015.07.19].
My fellow teachers and I saw that No Child Left Behind was a bad idea from the start, but then-Governor Rounds ignored our concerns and treated No Child Left Behind as a feather for his cap. His embrace of NCLB turned me from a Republican to a Democrat. Now Rounds himself discards that part of his legacy, which means that, like his D.C. colleagues John Thune and Kristi Noem, he has no legacy other than raising money and winning elections for his party.
All Mike ever did about education was talk. He had a 2010 plan that made us think that in the future he would do something but that never materialized. Now he talks back and forth with the next breeze.
Molly Ivins/Lou DuBose wrote about the pitfalls of NCLB and teaching to the test back when dumbass dubya was goobernor of Texas before he was appointed to dumb down the rest of America as whor….er war president. RIP Ms Molly,damnyou!
A registered Republican in 2003? WOW!! Things can change, huh? Next is getting liberals to learn that Conservative (with a capital C) is a four letter word and should be ridiculed, scourged and downgraded at every opportunity. Many voters DO have conservative fiscal values with liberal feelings about each other but big “C” Conservatives are the “large Marge” of Sodak problems. PS … let’s bring back the word liberal. Progressive is our direction but liberal is a mindset to carry proudly.
Yup, pretty awful, huh, Porter?
I’m with you on the use of the word “liberal.” For me, “liberal” means “seeking to maximize liberty for all citizens.”
Roger, that 2010 Initiative is another great example of the empty Rounds legacy. This state has been on cruise control since Janklow left Pierre.
M. Michael Rounds is a shameless front man for people who pay his election and re-election costs. Not only did he endorse … then repudiate … NCLB and Common Core standards, he left South Dakota with a so-called “structural deficit” that allowed DD to cut and underfund important programs … including education. Watch that Blue Ribbon panel. I will be surprised if anything comes of it.
@Cory … No sir, not awful at all. lol I have friends in SD that have every bit as liberal a mindset as myself that vote Republican. It may be because it’s a family tradition. It may be that there’re so few people in the state that everyone feels a strong need to fit in. But I can’t see that the majority of voters believe in the selfish platform that Republicans present. Sodak has nice people that care about each other. It’s an ideological disconnect and it’s harmful.
Cory said: “. . . like his D.C. colleagues John Thune and Kristi Noem, [Rounds] has no legacy other than raising money and winning elections for his party.”
That’s true, pathetic and shameful. When people want to mourn the loss of morals and civility, this kind of thing ought to top the list!
Did not Rounds also take federal money meant for education and use it to balance the budget so he could proudly brag about South Dakota’s budget system and constitutional requirements for a balanced budget?
Well, well, looks like we have a unanimous consensus on Mike Rounds and his “legacy”! Maybe that’s because it blows in on the wind and leaves the same way when the wind or hot air from the Koch brothers shifts directions! What I can’t figure out is why voters can’t figure this phony out! Maybe it’s because the cuts to education are driving out teachers that teach critical thinking!
this will add to his “legacy.”
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/rounds-creates-leadership-pac-to-help-likeminded-lawmakers/?id=182737
Rounds pac – like having deaf people describe colors to blind people using ASL.
Douglas, your memory serves you correctly:
http://madvilletimes.blogspot.com/2010/08/rounds-replaces-state-ed-money-with.html
Barack Obama saved Mike Rounds from another $26.3 million in fiscal courage.
Owen! Good that you noticed that “leadership” PAC. Mike Rounds isn’t a guy to look to as a model of “leadership”; such PACs exist just to help Congresspeople buy votes for leadership positions in caucus. More mutual back-scratching that does nothing to help South Dakota.
Just what we need is Rounds promoting campaign funding for like-minded; ie brain-dead, running on hypocrisy and mythology.