Politics | Barack Obama Obama Has Right Idea on Education Breaks with party orthodoxy By Kevin Spak Posted Mar 13, 2009 9:50 AM CDT Copied President Barack Obama high fives a young boy as he greets military personnel and their families before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) David Brooks crosses ideological lines to give President Obama a big shout-out on his education strategy today in the New York Times. "He has broken with liberal orthodoxy on school reform more than any other policy," Brooks raves. "He's naturally inclined to be data driven. There's reason to think that this week's impressive speech will be followed by real and potentially historic action." The president wants more innovative charter schools, and use of testing data to reward excellent teachers. “Obama’s goal is to make sure results have consequences,” Brooks writes. His approach “would make it more likely that young Americans grow up in relationships with teaching adults.” Read These Next For these factory workers, an unexpected windfall. A request to turn off football game ends in a murder-suicide. Toll from UPS plane crash rises to 15 after a Christmas Day death. Edited version of It's a Wonderful Life has viewers perplexed. Report an error