Arne Duncan: Big city mayors should take over school systems

[proud2BlibKansan]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Arne Duncan says big city mayors should take control of their school systems.

Duncan said today there’s too much turnover among superintendents in cities where the mayor is not in charge of the schools. He says strong leadership is needed to carry out reform in big cities, where kids are struggling the most.

Currently, mayors control the public schools in only a few cities while most others are run by school boards.

Duncan told the U.S. Conference of Mayors that if the number doesn’t rise, he will have failed as secretary.


http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/17887

[rurallib]

1. Chicago, no doubt, is the model

:eyes: :eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Military schools for the lot of them!

[Dinger]

50. Yup, Chicago, The Militarized School System In The U.S.

Fuck that.

[ThomWV]

2. The very last person on this earth I want running the schools in our county is my city mayor

Are all mayors gifted with the ability to manage? I think not.

Hail to the Chief

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Same here

Our mayor is a joke. He has even generated a couple national news stories; he is that bad.

[mucifer]

4. Oy vey!

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. And my first thought was

CLUELESS!!

LOL

[mucifer]

6. anyone else wonder if arne has some dirt on Obama? How did he get that job?

I just don't understand how Obama chose him. Chicago schools are a terrible mess. Obama has done lots of great stuff. But this ? Oy vey!

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I honestly believe that Obama is not an expert on Education

He liked what he saw Duncan do in Chicago and decided to pick him.

And at face value, what Duncan did in Chicago looks great. There are even teachers here on DU from that area who like Duncan. They defended him as a great pick right away.

But once you do a little research, you find Duncan is NOT an educator (and in MPO, anyone running a school district - or a dept of education - should BE an educator).

And he is quickly NOT impressive. This idea about putting the mayors in charge is just NUTZ.

[tonysam]

32. Obama is a Politician and Not an Expert on Anything Else.

So it's not a surprise he has the same ideas as these so-called "reformers."

[Bandit]

7. I vote for a Mayor to run the city I vote for a Superintendent of Schools to run the school system.

Both are elected by the people for their specific job. I disagree with the Administration on this issue.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Superintendents aren't elected

School boards are elected. They hire superiintendents.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. Superintendents are elected in some places.

I worked for elected superintendents in public schools.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Never heard of that

They are all hired here.

[DemBones DemBones]

35. My husband worked for an elected supt. in

another state, too. I think most systems are going to appointed supts. but I doubt the elected ones are extinct yet.

[blondeatlast]

23. In, AZ, Superintendents are elected to godawful results.

Tom Horne is a menace to society.

[Obamanaut]

54. We elected a new one this past Nov. He's gonna do some good

things, despite budget cutbacks. I like him.

[madrchsod]

8. another fucking union busting elitist telling the people what is best for them....

he failed in chicago and he`ll fail in washington.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. How could the AFT prez endorse this guy?

:shrug:

[MadHound]

10. Goddamn stupid motherfucking idiot, what the hell is he thinking!

Why the hell did Obama appoint this guy, does he want our school system to go belly up? Really now, it's already bad enough that the public school system is becoming increasingly politicized because of the idiots and fundies who get on school boards, now he wants to allow mayors, fucking mayors, to come in and politicize it even more?

If this comes to pass, I guaran god damned tee you I will not be voting for Obama in the next election because the man has just proven that he is a goddamn idiot who can be manipulated by any goddamn hack shilling for privatized education.

OK, for all you goddamn Obamabots out there, this is why we need to criticize anu president when they are making their Cabinet picks, this is why we can't wait in such matters, this is why we can't give them a grace period, because idiots like Arne get into power and then start not just spewing stupid shit, but start actively working towards enacting it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Can you imagine Funkhouser running the KC Schools?

He can't manage his own family! :rofl:

[MadHound]

16. Funkhouser, Heinman in Columbia,

Any one of a number of idiot mayors across this state. Hell, the ones in southern Missouri would all be running on a platform of putting Gawd back in schools and lowering teacher pay.

This is insane, and I'm really beginning to think that Obama and Duncan are continuing Bush's deliberate policy to drive the public school system into the ground in order to replace it with a privatized one.

I wonder how soon the Obamabots are going to swarm into this thread, trying to defend the indefensible.

[LWolf]

That POS Arne Duncan

is going to make sure that public education stays in crisis, with no hope on the horizon near future.







I have other things to say about Duncan, but they are probably not appropriate for this particular board, so I'll leave it at that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. He is every bit as bad as Rod Paige

[LWolf]

25. He's worse,

because he comes from a supposedly education-friendly Democratic administration. When you are raped by your own, you're supposed to shut up and take it for the team.

Not that teachers are likely to do so, lol. We're just likely to be assaulted by TWO armies now. The usual army of public ed/teacher bashers, and the partisan army defending what will now be the democratic rape of public education.

[lutefisk]

39. Arne almost makes me miss Tori Spelling.

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Mayors running school systems is a crazy idea.

Arne seems to be a few bricks short of a full load.

[Odin2005]

20. I agree with him.

*Hides*

[MadHound]

22. Why?

Why do you think further politicizing education is a good thing? Why do you think putting a person who doesn't have any sort of educational experience in charge of a school district is a good thing?

Don't run and hide, you put it out there, time for you to back it up.

[Odin2005]

26. I don't like the idea of school districts being independent of local governments.

IMO it creates a situation where ideologues and other such idiots can take control of school boards to push their agenda.

[MadHound]

28. School districts aren't independent of local governments

They are funded by local governments, using monies that are voted in by local citizens. School boards are directly connected to local governance, since any yahoo ideologue with enough votes can get elected to the school board(look at what's happened in Kansas and elsewhere when fundies got elected onto school boards and proceeded to throw out evolution).

The reason that school superintendents aren't elected most places is because placing somebody who has the education and experience to run a school district as head of the schools is usually seen as a wise move.

On the other hand, allowing the mayor to run school districts will only politicize the school situation even more. You may live in a nice liberal place where your mayor isn't a fundie and who values education, good for you. But many of us live in areas where putting the schools under the direct control of the mayors will simply mean that some local yokel, without a college education and a fundie agenda will be able to get themselves elected mayor, then come in and wreck the school system, forcing out evolution, cutting down teachers' salaries and the like.

Furthermore, mayors already have enough on their plates simply being mayor of a city. Requiring them to head the school system means that the schools will get the short end of the stick from a part time school superintendent who is too busy with other matters and who doesn't have the training, experience or education to be a proper school administrator.

Frankly I think that the public already has too much input already. After all, what other profession has its salary dictated by the voters? What other profession allows non-professionals to have a say in policies and procedures? What other profession allows the public to dictate the monies and budgets for facilities, materials, etc. The public already gets to kick around the the public school system too much as is via the school board, bond issues and referendums. Letting mayors assume control of the school district will only mean that the school district will sink further into the hands of those who are untrained in the profession, unskilled, inexperienced, and who very well could have their own political agenda vis-a-vis the school system. Is that what you want?

[Dinger]

51. Hey, April Fool's Day Was Yesterday (nt)

[AnneD]

21. Is THAT the best idea they can come up with?????????

Just cause I sing and dance around in my under ware don't make me Madonna.

I knew things would not go well when Obama used HISD as an example of the 'wonders' of incentive pay for good teachers. Our teachers work their asses off to make this school a great school. It is always been rated well and they really pushed last year.

We miss getting a higher rating because 1 student in 1 of our many sub groups (we are more diverse than most schools) failed. We ask for a change in the ruling because everyone had gone up a tad higher (remember-we had high scores to begin with). But just because you don't show a certain percentage a high rate of improvement you get bump kiss. We got zero incentive pay for working our asses off because 1 student in one group didn't preform well on a test. Kids and teachers have had to deal with more pretesting this year and as a result of this 'over testing' kids are actually sabotaging and doing worse-esp in the higher grades.:eyes:


And if you take on the challenge of a poor preforming school, not only do you get bump kiss if the kids do poorly, you can also lose you career when your school gets 'reconstituted' and you have to try to get another assignment with the stigma of teaching in a failed school on YOUR record. Now there's a way to rally the troops and create a learning community:sarcasm:.

The whole thing sucks bulls balls if you ask me. But then, I happen to be a School Nurse and I can always take my road show to other places, like hospitals, and make more money with less aggravation to boot:spray:.

Anne-Proud AFT member-Houston Tx-setting things right for the students and teachers of Texas.:headbang:

[madfloridian]

24. Mayors, oh my. They just know so much about running schools.

:eyes:

[Bluenorthwest]

27. Duncan is clearly crazy

Mayors are not qualified, nor are they paid to run schools. It seems this basketball buddy of the Pres does not even understand how cities and shools are run. A mayor can not just 'take over' the board, not in any city I've lived in. He's like a simpleton who thinks there is a magic wand to wave or something.
He must have a great free throw.

[MadHound]

29. I hear his hook shot is to die for

:eyes:

[Dinger]

52. As Long As Someone Has No Experience In Professional Public Education,

they're high on arne's list.

[MadHound]

30. Amazing how this thread is sinking.

What, no Duncan/Obama supporters want to take a crack at defending the indefensible?

[tonysam]

31. Duncan Thinks This is Going to Solve the Problems

in schools, but this would worsen the corruption which is rampant among administrators in public schools.

I mentioned this site, perhaps known to some here, about teacher abuse. As a victim of a sociopathic principal who is the reason I was fired and probably can never teach again, read this site and weep:

http://www.endteacherabuse.org/goals.html">NAPTA

Expect a lot more "rubber rooms" if corrupt mayors are allowed to take over school districts which are already infested with corrupt administrators.

[MadHound]

34. Corrupt mayors, fundy mayors, all sorts of weirdness would come out of the wookwork

If this is allowed to go through.

I swear, there is a deliberate effort by the political elite in this country to drive a stake through public education and privatized it. I understand Bush's wanting to do so, after all he had several family members who would stand to make big bucks off of privatized schools. What's Obama's excuse?

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. I am seriously interested in hearing what is good about this

:shrug:

[Are_grits_groceries]

33. No! Let the sheriffs do it.

Andy would do a good job and Barney and Aunt Bee would help.

Duncan's drug supplier must have hit a good batch.

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. LOL

And Andy would probably help with homework too.

[ContinentalOp]

36. That sounds pretty stupid.

How would that work in cities with multiple districts?

[lutefisk]

38. He really belonged in the Bush administration. Heck of a jumpshot, Arne.

What a fool. And fools should not be given powerful positions in government, as we have all learned.

[yurbud]

40. I distrust Duncan, but I'm divided on this--I don't know if mayors can be much worse than

current administrators.

Although they could hire people like Duncan and Michelle Rhee, which would be much worse.

[MadHound]

41. Think about it, a RW fundy is elected as mayor,

There goes evolution out the window, in comes prayer, out goes science, in comes religion, all due to one man.

[yurbud]

42. yeah, as bad as regular admins are, that would be worse.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. Just what we need - MORE politics in our schools.

I have had all day to think about this and I am convinced Arne Duncan is a complete idiot.

[MadHound]

45. Yeah, this has been keeping me on low simmer all day too,

I was actually looking forward to an improvement in our education system once Obama got into office, but sadly it keeps looking like things are going to go from bad to worse.

[proud2BlibKansan]

47. The thought of this lost me sleep last night.

Yuck.

[MadHound]

48. Good morning sunshine!

On my first cup of coffee here, up late last night revising a paper, yippee. At this point, very little outside of dire emergencies cause me to lose sleep.

I'm ready to be done with classes and go student teach next fall.

Have another cup this morning, and don't let Duncan's idiocy keep you up tonight:hi:

[ColbertWatcher]

44. Wrong again, Arne, you dumbfuck. n/t

[Dinger]

49. He's Already Failed

Hope he's replaced soon. He doesn't have a clue. Here's a hint arne: NOT ALL SCHOOLS ARE URBAN. One size fits all approach - won't work.
Union-hating, teacher-blaming, clueless asshole. Obama must have been in a hurry when he appointed this jerk. I expected a lot more from the man I voted for in November. Disappointed? Yes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

53. But this isn't even a good strategy for urban schools

I am in one of the failing urban districts he is concerned about. And our mayor is an idiot. He can't manage his city council. Our kids would eat him for lunch. LOL