Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan always seemed like the obvious choice for Secretary of Education to me. He works in Chicago, just like Obama. Obama knows him personally. He went to Harvard and he plays basketball. On top of that, he’s had a good record in Chicago. And compared to other reform-oriented big city superintendents he has a much better relationship with teacher’s unions.
Under the circumstances, it seems to me that there was an enormous tactical cleverness in the way Obama let this thing play out with increasing levels of hysteria from unions and reformers about potential choices. If Obama had done the obvious thing early, it’s possible that both sides would have come away disappointed. But by getting everyone afraid of the specter of Joel Klein or Linda Darling-Hammond, he wound up making a pick who makes everyone happy. And, honestly, everyone should be happy! Of course this means conflicts will now be deferred onto subcabinet choices and so forth. But I would say that with NCLB architects George Miller and Ted Kennedy still running the relevant committees in congress and a reformist in the White House, the basic principles of testing and accountability look set to remain in place.
Meanwhile, the team of ballers has just added its most accomplished player. Duncan was co-captain of the Harvard basketball team and after graduation he played professionally in Australia for several years. That puts him a cut above the pick-up crew that you’ll see in the rest of the administration.
48 Responses to “Arne Duncan”
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December 16th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Will Bill Bradley be joining the Obama Dream Team as well?
Actually, as a Short American, I’d like to express my disappointment that this team lacks anybody of the stature of Madeleine Albright or Robert Reich.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:26 am
TG, one of the Obama appointees yesterday had to stand on a box in order to reach the microphone. You can smile.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:41 am
on the ball front, is duncan gonna be dunkin?
December 16th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Michelle Rhee from the DC schools seems to be getting a lot of media attention, I’m surprised Obama didn’t select her.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The looming sports issue for Barack is will he use hockey to improve US/Canadian relations? Will he drop the first puck at the Winter Classic on January 1 at Wrigley Field when the Blackhawks take in the Red Wings?
The most accomplished of the wheezing ballers in the new administration is probably first big brother and Oregon State coach Craig Robinson. Granted, not an official position but pretty influential. OSU will be lousy again this year but I imagine recruiting will pick up. “While I cannot guarantee a White House internship, I will be happy to write a letter of recommendation for you.”
December 16th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Wikipedia also says he was childhood friends with R. Kelly, so he’s clearly surrounded himself with people who care deeply about schools!
December 16th, 2008 at 9:59 am
If by reform you mean the status quo for the past thirty years, then you are right on, MY. Hooray! More testing based on flawed pyschometric frameworks! More accountability measures that create perverse incentive structures in schools!
That’s progressive reform brought to you by the Hoover Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and ultra-liberal Think Progress!
It is amazing to me to watch “progressives” readily adopt education “reforms” that, in the long run, undermine the progressive agenda.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:02 am
And, of course, being a basketball player is a really important qualification for the job!
December 16th, 2008 at 10:08 am
If by reform you mean the status quo for the past thirty years, then you are right on, MY. Hooray! More testing based on flawed pyschometric frameworks! More accountability measures that create perverse incentive structures in schools!
This sounds like an argument to improve tests not to eliminate testing.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am
the status quo is merit pay? the status quo is teacher accountability? the status quo is charter schools?
Here’s the real status quo: millions of kids NOT KNOWING HOW TO READ. Any “agenda” that does not include teaching kids basic reading/writing/math/science skills is not progressive.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Good stuff on his Wikipedia page, at least for the moment:
Obama ‘appointed’ Arne Duncan as Sec. of Education. Some great change.
Arne Duncan’s Resume: Under grad degree in sociology (laughable). Then became Professional basketball player in Australia (cool but laughable for his appointments). “Appointed” CEO of the Chicago Public School System (CEO of a socially funded Public School system pretending to operate as a for profit Co.?????). “Appointed” by ‘change agent’ Obama to Secretary of Education.
Pork? I wonder who paid for Arne Duncan’s appointments. Did Obama as part of his payback ?
Now THAT’s some cutting commentary. Especially the air-quotes around “appointed”….OOOOOOH BURN!
December 16th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Finland has a great approach to testing. Why don’t you ask MY about it? He’s an expert in comparative education now.
Standardized tests are designed for norming purposes. They do not give teachers or administrators actionable information to direct teaching and increase student learning. Period. Using standardized assessments as the primary engine of school reform drives public schooling to the cognitive basement.
What chaps my back-end is how progressive and conservative “reformers” often share common ideals as to the skills our students will need in the 21st century while they readily adopt policies that undermine reaching those goals. We need to turn MY and other pundits on their head to get anywhere in the education sector.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Raft- Yes. These reforms are now the status quo. If you bother to look at the research on the subject, there is no reason to believe that charter schools or accountability measures have any positive impact on educational gains. In particular, accountability measures create perverse incentive structures that have, thus far, increased student disappearance and drop-outs. Guess where those students end up? Not only do these status quo “reforms” demonstrate limited utility in academic performance, but they also come with high social costs.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Nobody better according to Levitt: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/nobody-better-than-arne-duncan/
(also note the Hoop It Up 3-on-3 championships…)
December 16th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Hey,
Obama just appointed a Secretary of Defense to replace Gates. He has a degree in History from an IVY League School. Then he went on to a short minor league career but he wrecked his knee. He got a Masters in Statistics!! Then he went to Chicago and Richard Daley – who knew his Dad – made him Commissioner of Police, where he railed against police unions.
Tell me something, how would people be howling if this actually did happen. How is it so different from the Duncan appointment. You want to know the major reason Education is going downhill in this country. Because somebody like Duncan gets appointed to Secretary of Education, everybody says Heckuva a job!! And Yglesias goes, “Oooohhhh, cool, this is really going to help Obama’s pickup game!!” Jesus Christ, could we have any less respect for education.
This is an embarassment.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I don’t actually recall my hysteria from unions. Perhaps you’re confusing Alfie Kohn with a union leader. I do recall a lot of hysterical attacks on Linda Darling-Hammond.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Obama just appointed a Secretary of Defense to replace Gates. He has a degree in History from an IVY League School. Then he went on to a short minor league career but he wrecked his knee. He got a Masters in Statistics!! Then he went to Chicago and Richard Daley – who knew his Dad – made him Commissioner THE Chicago millitary where he ably led his large fighting force in multiple hostile actions abroad
Fixed that for you.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
WillieStyle,
You know I was originally going to add that but I thought it was too much. Yes, let’s say old Arne Duncan was a colonel in the National Guard for a couple of years and had a few successes – although nobody was sure if they really were successes, and if it had anything to do with the environment he was put in. You think that would change anything about how people would howl? Give me a break. You have to have a military guy, somebody who is trusted by the military!!
Also let me make a couple of predictions about you – tell me if I’m right
You have never been a teacher in a classroom
You have never spent time in a teacher’s lounge
Nobody you know has ever attended a low income school
You don’t know anything about the community schooling experiment that is going on in Chicago
You know nothing about the role John Dewey and Jane Addams played in the development of the Chicago school system
December 16th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
You have never been a teacher in a classroom
False
You have never spent time in a teacher’s lounge
False
Nobody you know has ever attended a low income school
False
You don’t know anything about the community schooling experiment that is going on in Chicago
True
You know nothing about the role John Dewey and Jane Addams played in the development of the Chicago school system
True
December 16th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Dang. I was totally beat to the Bill Bradley punch. Maybe he can coach them.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
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December 16th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Multiple-Choice tests are the ultimate form of mind-development.
NCLB puts 100% emphasis on these multiple-choice tests that cover all areas of human educational development.
And just think of all those great jobs out there where you just sit at a desk and fill-in multiple-choice bubbles all day.
Writing, deep-reading, conceptual thinking and
real knowledge are overrated.
Multiple-choice tests are the only valid aspect of education.
All other methods and strategies should be done-away with!!
ALL HAIL MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS!!!!!!!!!
December 16th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
This sounds like an argument to improve tests not to eliminate testing.
I’m all for good testing, but good tests come from good teachers. Bad tests, and education policies based solely on the results of those bad tests, are far far worse than no tests at all. I don’t understand how you can look at NCLB and see something positive.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
More bullshit framing of the issue as between “unions” and “reform.” Sigh.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
His Wikipedia page is better now
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arne_Duncan
First, he played basketball against Duke teams that included Johnny Dawkins and Danny Ferry, and came off fairly well.
Also, he spent a year researching his sociology thesis in inner-city Kenwood, Chicago. Although it was never published, it was nonetheless cited at least twice in the sociological literature.
Finally, anyone who could garner praise from both Randi Weingarten and the Fordham Institute must be doing something right.
December 19th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Hey young, bright, talented, teachers: Obama and Duncan want you to come to the hood and teach underpriviledged children how to read and write. Their test scores are abysmal, and if you cannot raise them then Duncan will fire you and replace you with some other well-intentioned highly motivated teacher. And when that teacher cannot got these kids living in the ghetto to score any better he’ll fire her and find some other teacher willing to give it a go. And then when she cannot change the socio-economic realities of her students from her classroom, and they still cannot pass the darn test, Duncan will fire her and find yet another enthusiastic talented teacher . . and on and on and on.
Thank you Obama. We hard working teachers, fighting the good fight to help kids in the hood, really have enjoyed being the scapegoats for all of the evils of the world for the past 8 years. Now I can see, there ain’t a darn thing gonna change. I’m so glad I voted for ya!
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