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And we're live in three……two……

Well, this is it–after weeks of plotting and planning, this show is finally on the road!

So how did this blog come about, anyway? The Alliance team wanted to find another vehicle to reach the public with information about education reform that was both provocative and resourceful.  After some debate, the organization decided to launch a blog.  I was lucky enough to get the job of running it. 

My background?  My bio is here.  But I’m no novice to the blogosphere; I edited my own blog from 2003-2004, and as any blogger will appreciate, am thrilled that Edspresso is now my main gig.  I hit the ground running on this new venture in mid-February.  After lengthy discussions, design and testing, Edspresso has arrived. 

You may be wondering why a brand-new blog already has posts going back into last month.  As part of the testing stage, I did quite a bit of blogging behind the scenes to give the folks here at the Alliance some idea of what to expect, and to help the blog find its voice.  After some discussion, we decided to make all that public, so you’ll have some stuff to read the first day (not to mention this from Gov. Bush, of course). 

As we’ve clearly indicated, this blog is hosted by the Alliance.  However, one thing needs to be made clear: while Edspresso will certainly reflect our stance in favor of parental choice in education, we’re not going to use this site merely as a platform to demand vouchers for all.  Instead, we plan on discussing anything dealing with education reform.  NCLB, merit pay, high-stakes testing, funding, achievement gap, universal preschool–if it’s about K-12 education and improving our nation’s schools, we consider it fair game. 

Furthermore, this is a bit more than a blog–think of it somewhere between a group blog and an online magazine.  A major part of my job involves bringing in diversity of thought–the Alliance wants to attract lots of different voices.  To that end, please take note of the tabs at the top:

• Today’s News: links to raw news from across the nation.  Check it frequently–it is updated throughout the day – and often commented on in "Our View." 
• Daily View: the daily blog where we give our take on edunews.  (This will largely be my corner, but others at the Alliance and outside the organization will chime in regularly.)
• Featured Commentary:  thoughts and remarks from outside contributors from a variety of spectrums – many of whom you know as experts in the field.  This is a weekly offering, appearing Tuesdays.  And we welcome views from everyone.
• Debates: one-on-one exchanges by analysts and experts on education issues – most of these will last throughout the week, so tune in each day for pings back and forth. We hope this will be one of the livelier areas on the site. 

As noted, we welcome outside contributions.  To submit an article for Featured Commentary or a blog post for the Daily View, please e-mail me at rboots at allianceforREMOVETHISschoolchoice dot org.  (Obligatory disclaimer: the views expressed by third-party contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Alliance for School Choice.)

So that’s how Edspresso came to be.  Now let’s brew up some rich bloggy goodness.