Peter Greene watched a video of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testifying before a Senate committee about the budget. Watch what happens when a Senator asked Duncan about programs in the Department that address the problems of dyslexia.
Greene writes:
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) asks a simple question: What specific programs do we have in place for helping students with dyslexia?
And it just goes south from there.
The answer, pretty clearly, is “none.” But Duncan is bound determined not to go there, so he tries, “Well, students with dyslexia have special needs, and we have a special needs fund, so they fall under that–“
Cassidy bores in, citing studies and facts and figures to elaborate on his point which is that students with dyslexia make up 80% of the students with special needs and as much as 20% of the general student population, so wouldn’t it make sense to have programs directed at that particular issue?
Let the flailing begin. I would put together my usual summary-deconstruction of a Duncan word salad, but this is the mouth noise equivalent of a large-mouthed bass thrown up on the creek bank and trying to flop his way back to some water.
Cassidy tries again. Does Duncan have any sense of the quality of dyslexia programs out there? The answer, again, is “no,” but Arne can’t form that word, so instead he starts making up some sentences that boil down to, “I suppose there are some good ones and some bad ones and some in between ones” which is not exactly an insight that required the United States Secretary of Education to deliver it.
Here’s Arne’s problem– he absolutely has an idea about what the approach to dyslexia should be. He’s been very clear about it in the past. Let’s go back to his conference call about new USED special needs policies
“We know that when students with disabilities are held to high expectations and have access to a robust curriculum, they excel.”
Or the explanation from Kevin Huffman in that same call. These words didn’t come out of Duncan’s mouth, but he didn’t say, “Well, that’s not quite what we mean” either.
Huffman challenged the prevailing view that most special education students lag behind because of their disabilities. He said most lag behind because they’re not expected to succeed if they’re given more demanding schoolwork and because they’re seldom tested.
So, Senator Cassidy, that’s the USED plan– we will expect those students with dyslexia to do better, and then if they don’t we’ll get rid of their teachers and replace them with teachers who are better at expecting things. That’s it. That’s the plan.
But Duncan was smart enough not to say that out loud to a man who 1) has clearly done his homework about dyslexia 2) cares about dyslexia and 3) is a US senator.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Alleluia, if we want to use testing let it be diagnostic in approach to help people, not to demean people. I have had many students who know they learn differently my own children are included in this group. When the unique learning situation is discovered, students feel a sense of relief that they don’t have to hide but can learn using the amazing technology we have today that can help students excel. Technology isn’t the magic pill but it can be used in the toolkit along with small class sizes and well trained professional educators that abound in the schools today. I hope we see more concrete support for our students that learn outside the one size fits all educational plan.
In my opinion most special education students are not receiving the education they deserve.
True! In my state, a student with dyslexia is not considered for special education unless they have some other learning disability. There is no training or even accommodations that I am aware of for kids with dyslexia. As teachers, we just have to fake it. Makes me weep for my students.
Another Arne thread? oh goody
“Arne Duncan” (parody of Lincoln Duncan by Paul Simon)
Teachers in the next room
Bound to win a prize
They’ve been testing children all day long
Well, I’m trying to get some sleep
But these schoolroom walls are cheap
Arne Duncan is my name
And here’s my song, here’s my song.
My father was professor-man
My mama was professor-man’s friend
But I’m at home in the boardroom
And the charter
So when I reached my prime
I left my home and Chicago Times
Headed down the highway for
The White House, for the White House
Holes in my confidence
Holes in my B-ball dreams
I was left without a penny or a contract
Oooo-wee I was about destituted
As a man could be
And I wished I wore a (championship) ring
So I could hock it, I’d like to hock it.
Seen the President in a parking lot
Preaching to a crowd
Selling Hope and Change and reading teleprompter
Well, I told him I was lost
And he told me all about the double-cross
And I seen that man as the rug
To helicopter
Just later on the very same week
When I went to his House with a B-ball
And my long years of counting cents ended
Well, he hired me for the “B”
Saying “How ’bouts you head up the DOE?”
And just like a dog I was befriended, I was befriended.
Oh, oh, what a job
Oh what a garden of hobnob
Even now that sweet memory lingers
I was playing in the gym
Shooting one-on-one with him
Just thanking the Lord for my fingers
For my fingers,
For my fingers
According to Arne, many SPED students just don’t have enough “grit”. After all, many of them have affective domain deficiencies (ex. lack of motivation, drive, self-efficacy, perseverance), and not necessarily cognitive deficiencies (the LD stereotype of having potential but failing to apply or use it, because the student thinks “what is all this for”, “why should I care when my 2nd stepdad doesn’t like me, nor I him”). Many of the SPED, ESE, students I have taught in inclusion settings fall into the catergory of EH or VE, and most are “that way” because of problems at home and traumas they encountered growing up.
So, just how much should the State or the Fed fund and pay for the remediation of problems that were essentially created by dysfunctional family settings? Should we all be taxed more, because others of us cannot stay married, or abuse our kids, or have chemical-addictions that inhibit our parenting, or????
My own son has mild dyslexia, but how much of the remediation is my responsibility, and how much the State or the school?
A couple of observations here:
Duncan says there are 1400 schools of education and he tries to throw it back on them with “What are they doing about it?” “It” being ensuring pre-service teachers learn about dyslexia.
Considering Arne’s pet teachers (TFAers) don’t even ATTEND any of these 1400 schools of education, he should call for at least a couple of hours of their 5-week summer crash course to cover dyslexia. Just so they can be experts on that too.
Secretary Duncan, President Obama and Mrs. Obama,
PLease watch Rick Lavoie’s dvd programs. My son is dyslexic. He learned to read because I took him to a Wilson Language Program tutor for three years. His local public school held him to high expectations, but only gave him some accommodations. The regular reading curriculum was not enough.
If 20% of the general student population has dyslexia, it is arguable that about 20% of both Houses of Congress (from both major parties) has it too. I think Arne Duncan just stepped in a pile of brontosaurs dung and he sunk until only his wiggling ears were visible as they attempted to wiggle out an SOS to Bill Gates, the Walton family and his hedge fund masters to pump more money into propaganda to cover this gaff. For sure, Duncan just made the job of corporate reform lobbyists a little bit harder.
Here’s a link to the Bipartisan Congressional Dyslexia Caucus—scroll down to see how long the list is:
http://dyslexiacaucus-brownley.house.gov/
Arne Dung-can?
Thank you, Lloyd, for providing this link. I just scrolled down the list. Seems there are many reps from Texas and California who are members of this caucus. None from New York.
I work in a school and a district with a lot of Special Education students. There are autistic children with limited verbal skills and some children do not speak at all. Secretary Duncan has no idea what he is talking about. Does he propose that I wave my high expectations wand and these children will start holding extensive discussions with me?
What is clear is that Duncan has no understanding of this population, and he is very comfortable in his ignorance. He would rather not have to think of them at all.
Your comment reminds me of when the blow hard J Jerome Harris took over as Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools and announced that Special Education teachers would not be allowed to be administrators because we did not get our kids “out” of special ed. Here I sat a Severe/Profound/Multihandicapped teacher—read kids with IQs below 30. Next to me was our Vision Resource Teacher.
Just think, we would have to cure both mental retardation and blindness to be worthy of being a principal under JJ. (He was a special education student himself, by the way, reportedly Emotional/Behavior Disorders—see why. EBDs generally hate being in special education because they get a teacher who is determined to make them behave. His contract had to be paid out to get rid of him he was so bad.) The stories were legendary. Some of our people actually moved down to regular education administrative positions and got certified in things like Curriculum and Development to move up into administration under JJ.
Nobody has any idea of how to teach special needs students except special needs teachers, and all administrators, everyone not certified in at least two or three areas of special ed. or who are not the parents or siblings of special needs children should have to spend at least a month in special education classes of various types before they get certified to be administrators. An fact, it would be better if they spent a whole semester—like student teaching. It would make it so much easier on the teachers.
“But Duncan was smart enough not to say that out loud to a man who 1) has clearly done his homework about dyslexia 2) cares about dyslexia and 3) is a US senator.”
And 4) the Senator may know someone close to him or in his family who has dyslexia. Huffman’s statement is idiotic. Glad he got deep-sixed in Tennessee. I can only hope that Arne was squirming and fidgeting the whole time.
Heck, I’m embarrassed for him and I truly dislike him and his policies.
Cassidy’s wife started a charter in Baton Rouge for dyslexic children.
Obama must really need this fool on his White House basketball team, for he is otherwise a pathetic joke.
It’s a plausible reason, I’ve seen Obama’s jump shot.
Thank y’all for your comments.
Like many rheephormsters, Arne Duncan holds fast to some very old and discredited ideas.
For example, remember when kings were supposed to have a special healing touch? Just imagine that, like the heavyweights in the “education reform” movement that occupy or are close to great wealth and power, you think that you and your peers [double entendre! shills & trolls—get it?] possess a special “essence of leadership/management” and that a mere approving or disapproving nod in the direction of those surrounding you will make or break them.
The very proof of a “leader” or “manager” is that they possess this special something. Hence, when Arne infuses those around him with his Elixir of High Expectations they are absopositively unstoppable! And most teachers obviously either don’t possess, or refuse to use, that special something that only true leaders/managers have.
That would explain, literally, why he thinks that dyslexia [among other things] can be basically solved by simply having those special somebodies dole out a bit of their magic potion to the needy children around them. *Best of all: don’t need to put more resources into improvement! It’s cheap—just got to make those overpaid lazy LIFOs do their jobs!*
Yes, Arne and the rest of the rheephormistas have something special, something that sets them apart from the rest, and that’s magical thinking—
The delusion that the whole world revolves around, is dependent on, and runs on, their approval or disapproval.
And because they see themselves as the measure of all things, there is no need for self-correction and thoughtfulness because they are inherently whole and complete and good in themselves. No improvement needed.
No, it’s the rest of us that need to stop and take stock of our worthlessness. That is to say, to prove that we are worthy of their approval or disapproval.
So when someone like Arne Duncan utilizes proof by assertion, understand that he is truly confounded and offended that his very precious and special words are not eagerly lapped up by all and sundry.
And that is why, paraphrasing the NJ Commissioner of Education, the Secretary of Education can’t understand why people won’t just accept and shut up when he lays out his entire program—
Double down on whatevers.
Perhaps I am being unkind, but I think Mr. T would have said:
“I pity the fool.”
And maybe, just maybe, the tv tough guy would have been too easy on him.
😎
“Proof by Assertion”
Proof by assertion
Truth by desertion
Goof by inversion
Doof by insertion
Spoof by DAMversion
This should be required reading for every teacher, administrator, and counselor.
See if your school can purchase one for your library.
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Dyslexia-Other-Learning-Disabilities/dp/1926966295
Watching the video of Arne Duncan blubbering incoherently about an important subject that he knew nothing about should be enough to disqualify him for his position and should require immediate termination. Had the Senator’s words not fallen on deaf ears they would still have been sent into a dysfunctional brain. President Obama must see this video.
I am no fan of Duncan fan but the questioning brought no deconstruction whatsoever. As a matter of fact Mr. Cassidy offered a false presumption that most current teachers lack awareness of dyslexia and that the remedy is professional development. He even suggested that the broad nature of funding is not good but rather suggested specific categorizations (around minute 5). This is precisely the problem with our system. Mr. Cassiy wants to quantify the problem. Consequently, legitimizing the use of metrics (sound familiar with high stakes testing) and moving away from considering other factors that contribute to the issue. To suggest that 80% of the students with dyslexia can’t read because of teacher awareness is patently absurd.
Off topic, but, I liked this reply by Madeleine in Greene’s Kristoff article,
“2. He may have a point about pay and conditions. Hence the importance of the federal initiative to shower money in huge quantities on schools in poor neighborhoods to lure in really committed teachers, as well as equipping poor schools with extra outreach and food services and – oh, wait, sorry, that never ever EVER happened.”
There is a good reason why Cassidy is well informed on dyslexia. His wife started a charter school for kids with dyslexia. So he is buttering his own bread.
One of the huge mistakes, and one of the few in my opinion, yet one that is far reaching is President Obama’s failure to put a teacher in the position of Secretary of Education.
Oh, remember, Cassidy is not a good Senator. He is a Republican. Louisiana is now stuck with two of those in the Senate. I am not sure whether his wife is actually a teacher. But she did start a charter. It is in Baton Rouge.
It is discouraging to see just how much say professional educators have lost over the design and running of the education system.
Yes, there is quite compelling research, particularly overseas in emerging countries like Poland, about the power of raised expectations, but that does not apply to all children.
One mistake these data-driven and business-minded reformers make is that they think of students like widgets. No amount of incentive of raised expectation will help children with learning difficulties get to grade level until they have mastered the fundamentals.
Until then, the standards are just another cruel source of failure for them, and certainly “trying harder” due to raised expectations is not the answer.
Don’t get me started on special ed. I have deep negative feelings about special education functions. I have three children of my own who qualified and were served in special education classes. Let’s just say it is woefully underfunded. It takes too long to qualify students and often special education teachers are so caught up in the unending paperwork that they cannot service these students well. I had a student that brought to LCMT when he was in kindergarten. While I was serving on that committee, this same child came up. He is now a fifth grader and still in what I term intervention limbo. Maybe Hell would be a better statement. Six years and this child still wasn’t getting the services he needed!
I am no fan of Duncan or current platform and I watched the clip few times but I was very disturbed by Mr. Cassidy’s presumption that most of teachers lack awareness of dyslexia. It is evident that he is associating lack of performance with lack of teacher awareness. What Mr. Cassidy is doing is trying to quantify the issue. I find it absurd because it leads to the necessity of some type of universal screening. Does that sound familiar? Like the problem with high stakes testing! No wonder we are in such a mess?? Certain things are better left amorphous rather than as Cassidy suggests. Cassidy’s arguments are laced with fallacies and I wouldn’t be surprised, as someone mentioned above, that he has an ulterior motive.
I am not sure which is more obnoxious…a DOE secretary with a special agenda and limited understanding of education or a Republican senator with some understanding of education and a special agenda. Neither appear ready to put down the sword to get it right. I DO know there are 1000’s of teachers who are successfully teaching and tutoring children with dyslexia. That is not enough. We can not leave it in the hands of a senator or DOE secretary to resolve this. We must educate ourselves and each other and act. This is not a special needs issue – it is a learning and reading issue.
I think both Sen Cassidy and Sec Duncan have missed the point about children with dyslexia. Teachers do have knowledge about dyslexia but they do not have the capacity to provide the kind of intensive, specialized instruction children with dyslexia require, given that they have many other children with varying learning needs in their classrooms. We need additional resources to provide the kinds of programs children with dyslexia need in order to achieve, many of which require one to one highly structured daily instruction. Public schools need access to the kinds of highly specialized programs that affluent families purchase with their own dollars. Public school teachers cannot be expected to meet the needs of all learners in their classrooms on their own all the time. If we really want to make a difference for all children then the federal government has to put the resources into that effort, not just expect someone else to do it.