Bill Wraga, at work a mild-mannered U. of Georgia faculty member, has recently uploaded the latest NCLB/ed reform song I’ve come across. Some others:
- The Department of Education’s NCLB song (NY Times article with partial lyrics; anyone know of a location for the full lyrics or an mp3?)
- Tom Paxton, Not on the Test
- No Child Left Behind? (album)
- Madelein Begun Kane’s Education President Song
This is certainly not the first time that education issues have been set to song. Doggerel is a longstanding tradition among students around the world, and sometimes it’s a ritual. (One of the traditions at Bryn Mawr College is the three evenings in the year when most of the undergraduates gather and sing a bunch of songs about campus life, with lyrics in both English and Greek.) Tom Paxton is a wonderful songwriter, but his song is not his best. I’m hoping to find a set of lyrics for ed reform that has a bit of whimsy, is set to “I’ll Fly Away,” or is written by students.