Cronyism in Education

If there is one columnist/editor/satirist/etc. that I generally end up agreeing with more than anyone else, it would definitely be Bill Maher. I have been a fan of his since his days on ABC, and I try to watch him as much as possible on his HBO show (although it is generally on someone else's TV because I don't get HBO anymore). While we don't agree on everything, we are both very anti-Bush, like the rest of the nation. But we were also both anti-Bush even when he was at the height of his popularity after 9/11 (this shows you how truly excited I am for January 20, 2009).

In this post on Huffington Post, Bill describes another tragic attribute of the Bush administration: cronyism. While politics has always been about "who you know", this administration has taken it to another level. They are always trying their best to help friends and family connections out in most, if not all areas of government. This includes education, as Bill discusses how No Child Left Behind benefits two powerhouse education companies: McGraw-Hill and Neil Bush's company Ignite!. This has always been an issue I've wondered about. Are such companies so popular with school districts nationwide because they provide effective services, or do they have corrupt connections like so many other private companies who currently make money from American taxpayers? From what I can tell, it might be a little bit of the former, but most certainly the latter.