Bush on immigration reform:

Look, amnesty’s not going to fly. There’s not going to be automatic citizenship. It just won’t work. People in the United States don’t support that, and neither do I.

Nor will kicking people out of the United States work. It’s not practical; it’s not a realistic solution. Some may articulate that, but it’s empty talk. And so, therefore, there’s got to be a middle ground.

It’s not hard to imagine the havoc that deporting 12 million illegal immigrants would cause. Nor is it hard to see the impracticability of building a 700 mile long fence to keep people from walking across the southern border. So the president is looking for common ground.

U.S. Deputy Education Secretary, Raymond Simon on NCLB:

The mission is doable, and we don’t need to back off that right now.

Even though Senator Kennedy acknowledged

The idea of 100 percent is, in any legislation, not achievable … There isn’t a member of Congress or a parent or a student that doesn’t understand that.

Kennedy added that the law’s universal proficiency standard served to inspire students and teachers. But “it’s too early in the process to predict whether we’ll consider changes” to the 2014 deadline, he said.

So, if it’s too early in the process, we are left to wonder when it will be time. When will the political will to act on the truth materialize? Many of the people I work with think that it will be when middle class schools fail to meet AYP.

McCain justifies his position on immigration reform by citing the negative effects that failed immigration policy have had on communities, public services, and on immigrants themselves.

Look for a similar speech about federal education policy from congressional leadership in a few more years. In the meantime…listen for more empty talk.