Here's a concept, have the people most directly responsible for teaching share with the U.S. Department of Education what really works and what really won't work in schools today. Implementing change in any school without considering the perspectives of talented teachers seems like a no-brainer. Yet only now, after years of selling NCLB or forcing it down the educational throats of every teacher in America, the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the creation of the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship (TAF). Plans include having five highly motivated, innovative public school teachers on her staff and an additional group of twenty ad hoc advisers who still work in the classroom.

Secretary Spellings said, "This is a terrific opportunity for educators to share their voices directly with policymakers, and I look forward to hearing from them." What?! The leadership of the NEA, the AFT, the ASCD, and others must be shaking their collective heads. Six years since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), perhaps it's time for the No Teacher Left Behind Act (NTLB)? Given the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has become well known in the education world for it's "many policy flaws, false assumptions, unintended consequences, and botched implementation" now they're going to "give teachers the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and experience to the national dialogue on public education."

Hard to find anyone talking about this and perhaps the mistitled web page press release "Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Appointed to National Assessment Governing Board" has something to do with it. Knowing this fellowship opportunity will not start until next fall—only months before she leaves office—U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings thinks, “It'll be very useful in both directions for teachers to understand what the issues are at the macro level,” she said in a recent interview. “But it's also hugely beneficial for us to make sure we know: Is this policy implementable, doable, realistic, and righteous by the classroom teacher?”

Better late than never? Hardly. In fact, depending on who gets to be involved in this selected group of 25, many will see this as a false gesture. Besides, most teachers are too busy teaching to even consider applying. That is, if they even hear about it in time. BTW, applications<