Peter Greene reviews an interview with Arne Duncan as he promotes his new book about why all of American education is built on lies.
Peter notes that the book is rated #1 in a category called “charter schools” on amazon.com.
This is not surprising since Arne is the hero of the charter school movement, which set the stage for Betsy DeVos and the voucher movement.
One step towards privatization and you are on your way to vouchers.
That’s how you turn citizens into consumers.
I don’t have any intention of reading this book. I won’t tell you what to do.
“Hush little Arne”
Hush little Arne, don’t say word
Peter’s gonna act like a mocking bird
If that mocking bird grows soft
Diane’ll continue where Peter left off
If Diane can’t find the time
SomeDAM poet will finish in rhyme
“Peter’s gonna sing like a mockingbird” would be better
Thank you. Big smile on my face. I needed that.
There were a few jems in Peter’s post that made me laugh too, as usual, like “Race to the Trough” and the line about LeBron as secretary of education. Duncan is such a doofus, he blurs the line between making me laugh and making me cry.
Is there a category on Amazon for “Waste of electrons”? Or “Waste of neurons?” Or just “Waste”?
If so, Arne’s book must also be #1
Andrea Gabor’s book has replaced Arne’s on amazon as #1 in the charter school category, and unlike his, her book is critical.
It’s all about the money driving the bus. Unfortunately, the news is discouraging about turning this bus around and making it about children again.
What does it mean to be #1 in this genre: Education Policy and Reform. Not much.
Look at the Amazon Best Seller Rank first.
As I look and type this comment, that rank is #51,033 at 1:22 PM on August 22, 2018. It changed every hour.
What does it take to earn a rank like that?
The only way I can answer that is to compare his book’s sales to one of my novels that sold two copies on Tuesday and was ranked #38,778 in the same ranking where every title Amazon sells regardless of genre is ranked and there are more than 12 million titles in that ranking.
When my book sold 8 copies on Monday, it was ranked #25,813. When it sold 21 copies on August 13, it was ranked #15,117. On August 10, it sold 22 copies and reached #10,986. The day before that it sold 21 copies and was ranked $14,607.
To reach #1 in that overall ranking, a book has to be selling thousands of copies daily. My book made #1 and held that position for a couple of hours back in 2013 when it sold about 3,000 copies that day.
As long as Arne’s book is up there around #50,000 or more, it isn’t selling that many copies each day. And we have no idea if most of those few copies are being bought by minions working for the autocrats that own Arne’s heart and soul under order to buy one to improve sales rank and hopefully catch the interest or readers they don’t own.
I’ve read that Scientology has its followers buy copies of L Ron Hubbard’s books to keep them near the top of the rankings. To make this work, you have to have a lot of minions spread across the country willing to do what they are told.
Arne is probably about buying up copies of his own book to boost the ranking, since I doubt he has many minions (if any).
I’m pretty sure no suburban moms are buying his book, at any rate.
I wonder who wrote it. Peter Cunningham?
Arne Duncan is one of Obama’s worst mistakes. As a teacher educator for 35 years, I had the honor of working with the Department of Education when Arne was Secretary of Education in negotiated rule making as an alternate to the NEA. I was president of ATE at the time and I recall vividly how angry and frustrated I was at the obfuscation and dishonest treatment that I felt throughout the whole process. Arne should have left to bounce basketballs for the rest of his life. He has done a lot of damage. DeVos is worse, of course.
Not sure if Arne was one of Obama’s “mistakes”, but i’m pretty sure he was the biggest mistake his parents ever made.
What is a teacher educator?
A teacher educator is a professor at a college of education. He or she teaches courses to would-be teachers.
Thanks!
In the past I’ve seen non-teachers use that phrase to falsely claim expertise as a teacher.