Dueling NCLB Hearings -- Why Now, How Different?

Interesting as the Aspen Institute's NCLB hearings may be, I've been wondering if the Comissions' hearings would have any impact and also when there would ever be "real" hearings on the Hill. Not that Congressional hearings are better, but different and more revealing maybe. I guess I wasn't the only one.

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Today the House education committee announced its own set of hearings, focused on a variety of NCLB issues including the AYP loophole, and yesterday it released a bipartisan letter calling Spellings to account for her oversight of the law. A Democratic letter along the same lines had been sent last month. The letter is signed by the chairman and ranking members of both the education and school reform committees.

Some questions to ponder: Why did the Hill finally decide to have hearings -- was it the loophole news, or folks asking why they were letting someone else do their job? How will the dual sets of hearings be different, substantively and otherwise? Will either set of hearings have any big effect on the revision of the law, or do they just provide cover and pass the time?