Subject: Edley Status Report
From: "Christopher Edley" <[email-masked]>
To: "John Podesta" <[email-masked]>, "Valerie Jarrett" <[email-masked]>, "Pete Rouse" <[email-masked]>, [email-masked], "Chris Lu" <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:35:24 -0800

November 14, 2008

To:       John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, Pete Rouse

From:   Christopher Edley, Jr.

RE:      Progress Report:  Education, Immigration, etc.

As you know, John and I agreed that I would step away from any
responsibility in the Health Care arena, rather than continue to be a fifth
wheel in the effort being led by Tom Daschle and Jeanne Lambrew.

*Education Policy Team*

Led by Linda Darling-Hammond, the team is well-engaged.  After coordination
with Schiliro and Strautmanis, the team is executing its consultation plan
on the Hill and with key groups.  I've asked them to focus on gathering
intelligence to help resolve the threshold questions of packaging and
timing: big-bang versus piecemeal/incremental.  In parallel work, they are
continuing to refine the elements in the five or so policy domains that
might comprise an omnibus package reflecting campaign commitments: early
learning; NCLB reform; teaching; middle & high school reform, college
access; and research.  Their next deliverables, for Thanksgiving, are: (1) a
draft briefing memo for Principals; (2) a draft, tight decision memo on both
the legislative strategy and a few critical policy choices.  My goal,
subject to your guidance, is to finalize those memos on or before Tuesday,
December 2.  Ultimately -- and here subject to guidance of the
Ssecretary-designate and Chief of Staff – my hope is to have draft
legislative principles appropriate for serious consultations in early
January.

The coordination with the Agency Review team is exquisite – could not be
better.  My chief questions are: (a) how to provide input to the budget
process; (b) whether there is an opportunity to suggest education-related
elements of the stimulus package; and (c) how best to ensure that senior
appointees don't derail the legislative timing by re-litigating policy
choices already made by the candidate.

*Immigration Policy Team*

Led by Tino Cuellar and Alex Aleinikoff, this team is also well-engaged. The
consultation strategy will be implemented next week. They have the same
mission as the Education team, and the same schedule and specification for
Thanksgiving deliverables.  One critical early policy decision is
non-legislative: what to do with Bush Administration's workplace raid
policy.  The decision memorandum in December will frame this issue, informed
by Hill intelligence about the likely impact on legislative politics.

Here, the coordination with the Agency Review effort is not quite on track
(as of 24 hours ago, but a meeting was scheduled).

-- 
(personal email)
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor and Dean
UC Berkeley Law School