Education has frequently defied partisan tropes. In 2002, as he signed the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush noted that massive majorities in Congress had “set partisan politics aside.” In 2015, President Obama quipped as he inked the Every Student Succeeds Act, “A bipartisan bill signing right here — we should do this more often.” Even in today’s hyperpolarized environment, major debates about testing or online learning don’t necessarily reflect partisan lines — except, apparently, in the pages of the mainstream media.
As gluttonous consumers of education coverage, we’ve been struck by the partisanship that marks how the nation’s leading news outlets approach education policy debates. It sure seemed like the New York Times and Washington Post spent four years lashing out at every educational gesticulation of President Trump or Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, only to pivot on a dime to providing anodyne, even cheery, coverage of President Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
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