Arne Duncan, head of Chicago public schools, to be secretary of education

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: CNN

A Democratic source confirms to CNN that President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of education is Arne Duncan, the head of Chicago public schools.

Duncan, who like Obama is a graduate of Harvard University, has served as chief executive of Chicago's public schools since 2001. Chicago is the third largest school district in the country.

Obama and Duncan often play basketball together, and Duncan was one of those who played with the president-elect in a game on Election Day.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/15/duncan-to-be-secretary-of-education/

[bigworld]

1. Sounds like a good pick

Here's the Washington Post article with more details about him... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121600265.html

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Thanks, bigworld! nt

[spiritual_gunfighter]

3. Yes another horrible pick by Obama

I live in Chicago, the Chicago Public Schools are abysmal and if this is the model that Obama wants to go with I feel sorry for the future of our education system. This seems like a "your doin' a heck of a job Brownie" pick.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Do any big cities have a great school system?

:shrug:

[spiritual_gunfighter]

5. Many big cities have good school systems

Chicago is one of the worst of the big cities. The Arne Duncan pick is disheartening because I tend to wonder if this wasn't a pick based on him being a really close friend of Obama more than being truly qualified for the job.

[lakercub]

7. I dont know the numbers, so I cant say how bad Chicago is

but what I would guess is that Chicago has been terrible for years. Is that, or is that not, the case? If it is, has it shown any improvement under Duncan's watch? Or has it been stagnant, showing no fresh ideas?

If it is not the case, and Chicago was ok before...what has Duncan done to screw it up?

Please don't just tell us you think he's bad. Tell us why. I am not disputing yet whether he is right or wrong. I am just sick of knee-jerk "another crappy Obama appointment" statements with no supporting evidence. You may be right...he may be bad, but please show me why you think so.

[Critters2]

12. It has been terrible for years. When I lived there in 90-91,

only one family in my parish sent kids to public schools. I had to spend confirmation class unteaching what the kids were learning in the Catholic or Mo Synod Lutheran schools they attended, or helping the kids in Hebrew School add to their religious knowledge. There was a chicken-egg kind of question: were the schools bad because families with resources pulled out, or did those families pull out because the schools were bad? These were the days when Chicago Schools were called the worst in the nation. But from what I hear, they haven't improved much.

I was surprised by this pick.

[aquart]

14. So was a Chicago teacher I know.

And she was completely besotted with Obama during the primaries and election. I've been much more comfortable with his choices than she has.

But I don't have a clue why he picked this guy except for being friends. Anybody have one?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

21. I dont just say Arne Duncan is a disaster to be contrarian

The fact is that he is a disaster and if the Chicago Public School system is going to be the model for what he is going to do as Secretary Of Education then I feel bad for our children.






OBAMA SLAM-DUNCANS EDUCATION

by Greg Palast

New York. Tuesday, December 16,

Hey, you Liberal Democrats. You may have won the election, but you're getting CREAMED in the transition.



Today, President-elect Barack Obama stuck it to you. He's chosen Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education.

Who? Duncan is most decidedly NOT an educator. He's a lawyer. But Duncan has this extraordinary qualification: He's Obama's pick-up basketball buddy from Hyde Park.

I can't make this up.

Not that Duncan hasn't mucked about in the educational system. Chicago Boss Richie Daley put this guy in charge of the horror show called Chicago Public Schools where Duncan turned a bad system into a REALLY bad system.

And Obama knows it. Indeed, although he plays roundball with Duncan (who was captain of the Harvard basketball team), State Senator Obama was one of the only local Chicago officials who refused to send his kids to Duncan's public schools. (The Obamas sent Sasha and Malia to the Laboratory School, where Duncan's methods are derided as dangerously ludicrous.)

So, if The One won't trust his kids to Duncan, why is he handing Duncan ours?

The answer: Duncan is supported by a coterie of teacher-union hating Republicans. The vocal cheerleader for the Duncan appointment was David Brooks, the New York Times columnist; the REPUBLICAN columnist.

Hey, didn't those guys LOSE?

The problem with Duncan is not party affiliation. The problem is education philosophy. And Duncan is a Bush baby through and through, a card-carrying supporter of the program best called, "No Child's Behind Left."

At the heart of the program is testing. And more testing. Testing instead of teaching. When tests go badly, the solution is to push the low-test-score kids to drop out of school. If triage isn't enough, then attack their teachers.

Here's how Duncan operates this Bush program in Chicago at Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto. Teachers there work with kids from homeless shelters from an economically devastated neighborhood. Believe it or not, the kids don't get high test scores. So Chicago fired the teachers, every one of them. Then they brought in new teachers and fired THEM too when, surprise!, test scores still didn't rise.

The reward for a teacher volunteering for a tough neighborhood is to get harassed, blamed and fired. Now THAT'S a brilliant program, Mr. Duncan. But Duncan's own failures have not gotten HIM fired. As long as his 20-foot jumpshot holds, he's Mr. Secretary.

In no other cabinet department is the lack of expertise, lack of accomplishment, lack of a degree in the field found acceptable but in Education.

But what horrifies me more than Duncan's lack of credentials is Obama's kowtowing to the right-wing clique crusading against the teachers' union and progressive education. The ill philosophy behind the Bush-brand education theories Duncan promotes, "Teach-to-the-Test," forces teachers to limit classroom time to pounding in rote low-end skills, easily measured on standardized tests. The transparent purpose is to create a future class of worker-drones. Add in some computer training and - voila! - millions of lower-income kids are trained on the cheap to function, not think.

Analytical thinking skills, creative skills, questioning skills are left exclusively to privileged little Bushes at Phillips Andover Academy or privileged little Obamas at the Laboratory School.

For the rest of America's children, instead of hope, we'll have hoops.

[lakercub]

35. That's more like it

That's the kind of supporting material I like...thanks.

:toast:

[spiritual_gunfighter]

36. You are welcome lakercub n/t

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Which big cities have better school systems than Chicago?

Do those cities have as many poor and immigrant students as Chicago?

[goclark]

11. No Child Left Behind meant just the opposite

Public Schools were left to twist in the wind,especially in large urban areas.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

23. Arne Duncan is a No Child Left Behind lover through and through

No Child Left Behind has been a disaster for American schools. Arne Duncan fully supports the failed education policies of the Bush administration. In the Lawndale area of Chicago when the kids weren't getting good scores he fired all the teachers, when the new teachers came in and the scores didn't change he fired them as well. So instead of rewarding the teachers that chose to teach in the ghetto of Lawndale, not a job most people would take, the answer was to fire them twice. He is a complete disaster who fully supports the failed policy of the Bush administration. My mother and brother teach in the Chicago school system, my mother told me that in order for her school to bring up their reading test scores the principal has the math teachers teaching reading to their students at the expense of their math studies. There are plenty of horror stories relating to the utter failure that is No Child Left Behind, and Arne Duncan and apparently Barack Obama fully support it. Very depressing

edited for content

[Elidor]

27. Very depressing, indeed

His pickup b-ball buddy?

:puke:

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. You still didn't give say which big cities have a better schools system than Chicago

[CabalPowered]

10. Actually Chicago operates much better than other large districts

Chicago is not perfect but it's lightyears ahead of other big districts like NOLA, DC, LA, Houston, Miami, Las Vegas.

[KamaAina]

16. Aw, c'mon. You can't really put NOLA at the head of the list.

Granted, the schools there suck great big green rocks -- but there are extenuating circumstances here, notably that after the Federal Flood, the state barged in and essentially dismantled the Orleans Parish (county) School Board, leaving it (not to mention the teachers' union) with only a few schools on the city's West Bank, which did not flood. Now most schools are either run directly by the state through the "Recovery School District", with predictable results, or have converted to charters. Seemingly every edumacation expert from coast to coast has descended on NOLA to open up a charter school. The jury is still very much out on whether this will ultimately prove to be a good idea. So please, at least give 'em a Barry Bonds-style *. :-)

[CabalPowered]

17. Thanks for the update

We haven't worked with NOLA since the Federal Flood but prior to that most schools and classrooms we visited were in terrible shape. And working with the district administration was a fiasco, everytime. I hope something works as NOLA needs and deserves all the help it can get. :thumbsup:

[KamaAina]

19. Who's "we"? Are you an edumacation expert, by any chance?

Is you helping our children to learning? :dunce:

If so, you very well might want to stay on top of developments in the World's Most Interesting City. And if you do end up working with them in this postdiluvian era, I might even be willing to help. :-)

Here, then, are a few places to start:

http://www.teachnola.org A "Teach for America"-style initiative focused on the Crescent City.

http://www.newschoolsforneworleans.org A slick, savvy, well-funded outfit, but does seem to have a pro-charter agenda.

http://www.tulane.edu/cowen_institute The city's higher ed heavyweight gets in the game with the Scott S. Cowen (he's their prexy) Institute. Tulane also partners with (runs, basically) the nearby Lusher School, frequently seen in real estate ads: "Cute shotgun, did not flood, Lusher District!!"

See ya on the streetcar... :hi:

[chatnoir]

25. As a Chicagoan, I'm feeling the same way

The Chicago public school system is horrendous and this is who he picks? Very disheartening.


Edit for typo

[sudopod]

9. This picture depicts my emotional response to your poorly thought out posting.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

31. Maybe you didn't read what I wrote

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3647121&mesg_id=3647611

[KittyWampus]

15. Funny, your post exactly echoes same ignorant crap posted by Palast last week.

"This seems like a "your doin' a heck of a job Brownie" pick"

that's exactly what Palast wrote.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

28. I stole it from Palast

I guess you can love David Brooks's favorite educator who doesn't even have a degree in education then. And please enlighten me then if what I said was ignorant. I live in Chicago, my mother and brother teach in the Chicago Public School system, I know Arne Duncan and the way he has been running things here for a few years. NCLB is an utter failure and Duncan is a champion of it, that's not change you can believe in. I posted the Greg Palast article because he is a much better writer than me and I agree with him on this one. But if you have some valuable info on why Duncan is a stellar pick then have at it. If not, then do some research and get back to me.

[Le Taz Hot]

30. Thank you SO much

for your insight. I specifically came to THIS forum to see what RESIDENTS feel about this pick. First Emmanuel, then Duncan? Sounds literally like we're going back to the good ole boy model of doing business. How frustrating

[spiritual_gunfighter]

32. You're welcome

I haven't been the biggest fan of Obama's picks thus far, but I have decided to give them a chance before they have a chance to do their jobs but not on Duncan, it was a horrible pick.

[w4rma]

34. Obama's new Secretary of Education is as bad as anyone Bush would have appointed.

…
The problem with Duncan is not party affiliation. The problem is education philosophy. And Duncan is a Bush baby through and through, a card-carrying supporter of the program best called, "No Child's Behind Left."

At the heart of the program is testing. And more testing. Testing instead of teaching. When tests go badly, the solution is to push the low-test-score kids to drop out of school. If triage isn't enough, then attack their teachers.

Here's how Duncan operates this Bush program in Chicago at Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto. Teachers there work with kids from homeless shelters from an economically devastated neighborhood. Believe it or not, the kids don't get high test scores. So Chicago fired the teachers, every one of them. Then they brought in new teachers and fired THEM too when, surprise!, test scores still didn't rise.

The reward for a teacher volunteering for a tough neighborhood is to get harassed, blamed and fired. Now THAT'S a brilliant program, Mr. Duncan. But Duncan's own failures have not gotten HIM fired. As long as his 20-foot jumpshot holds, he's Mr. Secretary.
…
http://www.gregpalast.com/update-obama-slam-duncans-education/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x409467

[Viking12]

6. I was hoping for Bill Ayers...

...just to see Hannity's head explode :evilgrin:

[quidam56]

13. Appalachia can't stand anymore...

of the no child left behind program. Here in COAL country, our kids schools are so old and outdated they can't even power up the latest technology kids in Appalachia deserve. http://www.wisecountyissues.com THE COAL INDUSTRY ships our coal by the train loads to China, along with a mountain and stream. It's shameful. This is THIRD WORLD AMERICA environmentally and health care wise. Profit comes ahead of People.

[pattmarty]

18. The whole point is being missed here. What is needed..........

.......is a complete overhaul of our dismal public ed system. AND, it ain't gonna happen. Our system is discriminatory in the sense that the system is funded by local real estate taxes. If you want to "fix" the system, you first have to "fix" the way it is funded. I won't go into a long winded rant on the exact fixes needed, but that HUGE one is the first. And ya know what? Obama and Duncan ain't gonna fix it. RESPONSE ANYONE?????

[tomg]

20. I can't say what Obama and Duncan are or are

not going to do, but you are dead on the money that the chief flaw in the system is that the utterly inane system of funding is based on local real estate taxes. My wife teaches in a district that, at one time, had a fairly good economic base and a fairly good education system. Then the major industry ( IBM) pulled out, the lower upper-middle class ( which was substantial and a force for good education) left with the industry. A large group of retirees ( not knocking retirees,just a fact of economic life,) a fairly large and very conservative base who were anti-education ( I am knocking those nitwits), and a number of working class and because of economic drop barely-working folks with kids( who had few options) were left. School budget after budget was defeated ( the last time they didn't even re-submit but went right to austerity). After school programs - cut. Youth at risk programs - cut. Class size - expanded. Support services - cut. Building maintenance and staff - kept at skeleton crew levels. School trips - cut. Books - hopelessly out of date. Computers - non-existent. All of this leads to more middle-class flight from the schools, leaving only the most at risk and most dispossessed kids who desperately need services. Then add No Child Left Behind. With dropping scores ( as though scores a) really mean a damn thing and b) exist in some ideal state free of economic and family considerations, you have a perfect scenario for a) cutting back more funding ( hey, they are failed schools with bad teachers) which leads to b) lower scores and . . .

The direction would seem to be that there is a need for state-wide funding. Possibly use property taxes for schools funding based on the assessed value based on local property vales, but have the funding go into a statewide system with equal distribution relative to the needs of specific at-risk communities. Either we are part of a vast community or we are not.

Sorry about the rant. Seeing what it does just breaks my heart.

[pattmarty]

24. Since I can't change the system, I always vote to fund...........

...............the schools whenever a vote comes up. And I haven't had kids of school age for a long time. I am a big, big believer of education as solver of many problems.

[tomg]

26. Same here. We had three in the

public school system ( economically diverse)and they were well served by it. Our youngest is now in private (big age difference - only youngest had No Child which is why we left for a private Quaker school, and we hated doing it because it felt like we were traitors to the public schools). I come from a family of teachers that goes way back and we all hate No Child. We also all feel that there is an inherent inequality in the method of local funding(including those teaching in wealthy communities).

[spiritual_gunfighter]

33. They sure arent

Because when you support a failed model to begin with, you can throw as much money as you can at it but in the end it's still a failed policy and no amount of money is going to fix that.

[Odin2005]

22. Sounds like a good pick. n/t.