Will anything change in Obama’s second term?
More testing, more charter schools, more school closings?
Joy Resmovits asks around for Huffington Post.
She says that if Duncan should leave–which is unllikely–he might be replaced by Rhee.
That’s enough to make you appreciate Arne.
Maybe the purpose of the rumor is to make you like Arne.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
For me it’s a draw between the two.
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Rhee! No! If that happens, there needs to be a national strike (legal or not). It is not supportive of education to put the likes of Michelle Rhee in charge.
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Id move to Finland for sure! Massive organizing by parents and grassroot org needs to happen. Just as we rejected the “right” outrageous war on women, the poor, gays, etc. this election, we must declare war on bipartisan education reform. I’m ready, are you?
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I have asked for information of tchr openings in Finland. No answers. Finland may not want US tchrs…such bad press and treatment here. The world listens to our news, too. US acts like adolescents out of control and changing with the turn of every election. European countries have a much longer vision and attention span. Tend to keep what works, for a long time. Respect and longevity rules.
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I doubt Rhee would take the job because
a) she’d have to take a major pay cut from her current wingnut welfare gig funded by Gates/Broad/Bloomberg/Wall Street.
b) she’d have to undergo a Senate hearing and maybe, just maybe, somebody would ask her under oath what she knew about cheating in the DCPS when she was chancellor and what she did about it.
The Rhee rumor is out there for the reason you note, Diane – to make a second four years of Arne more palatable.
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They probably communicate regularly anyway….we most likely have ArnRhee running the show and stabbing us in the back….they both make me sick.
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My letter to the President:
I read this morning with interest an article that described how you thought that you won the first debate, until your team explained to you what was wrong.
Please don’t repeat the same kind of issue with your education policy. Teachers and educators throughout this nation are beaten down by the current policy situation. Do you want the folks who oversee your girls’ education to feel like this? Of course not!
Before your first election, you had a team of education advisors that included Linda Darling Hammond who were giving you sage advice that was also supported by the best research and practice in the land about improving schools. We do know how to do this. When you were elected, you appointed Arne Duncan, and chaos has emerged. Schools, districts, and states are competing for scarce resources and the hope of doing what might make a change as great cost to local communities. There is a better way.
Please, Mr, President. For our children’s sake, stop and regroup on education policy before this goes forward. We all want to have the kind of schools that your girls have had. It is possible. It can’t be a race… It needs to happen swiftly so that this generation of students get the benefit of your great leadership. I have great hope that you can still be seen as an education president. But under your leadership, we’ve had to stop supporting math and reading programs and put money aside for bussing (empty busses, I might add). Schools and districts can and will do the right things when the resources and conditions are right. Spark the leadership. Start with the congress and get bipartisan support… it can be done. Put aside the actuarial tables that treat schools like commodities and bring in the most expert educators in the nation…Give Linda’s plan a chance. She has mapped out the most sensible course of any educator in the world to right this great nation’s most prized resource… our children’s future.
Let Arnie go back to Chicago and tinker with things that need his attention in other ways. Fill the US Dept of Education with learned and passionate educators who can lead us back into the first place among nations with respect to our children’s education. Motivate state legislatures to do their part in funding and policy making. Urge philanthropists to give to the projects that are set to make a difference as research scales up. Let’s start the road to healing this nation with a path to the schoolhouse door.
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thinkgal,
You have real school examples and clearly articulated alternatives. This is what the parents, public, and Obama need to hear. Teachers must speak out about how we can do better for our kids. Thanks for a good letter.
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I’m almost afraid that’s like saying “the purpose of the Romney loss is to make us appreciate Obama”. God forgive me for my cynicism, but I think we need to resist any impulse towards complacency engendered by the Obama win.
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Lynn Sweet, Washington, D.C. Correspondent for the Chicago Sun Times wrote an article, “Valerie Jarrett for Chief of Staff? Possible shake-ups in 2nd term,” in which she discussed education:
“Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former Chicago schools chief, wants to
stay–and there is no plan for a change.”
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Nothing will change. Teachers were used for reelection purposes only. The only change we will get is if we put political pressure on Obama. He may not have to worry about reelection any more, but we can still change the makeup of the House and Senate in the next four years. As John Rosemond says, let’s give him an offer he can’t refuse.
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Please explain “political pressure”.
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I am no poltician, but I think this is possible. We don’t have to vote for midterm Democrats, do we? Maybe the teacher unions need to tell candidates that they will earn their endorsements only if they come out against RttT. Votes do matter. After Romney’s shellacing, the Republican party is looking at how their platform may have alienated minorities and women. They see theneed to change if they are to survive as a party. We need to turn the heat up on Democrats who support RttT.
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He should appoint Bill Gates. He’s already heavily involved, and he’d serve without pay. Heck, he might pay to serve.
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If you want a clue as to how Obama will pursue his education policies, see what he does as the purported “fiscal cliff” approaches.
If he goes forward with cutting “entitlements” – itself an ideologically charged term akin in its deceptiveness to the “achievement gap” – such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, he will have told you everything you need to know about who the “real” Obama is.
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I nominate Diane Ravitch to replace Arne Duncan!
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Ever wonder what students think about how testing effects their learning and their lives? … This article says it all. I hope the powerful are listening. I hope people respond to this student’s call for help with his important project.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/09/one-teens-standardized-testing-horror-story-and-where-it-will-lead/
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I hope Obama puts Rhee in charge(if Duncan steps down) because that is the only way there is going to be revolution on education in this country, and I believe that is what needs to happen. If Duncan stays, it will just be business as usual.
My views may be considered radical by some, but if you want things to change, we need to stand up and be rebels!
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