WILL THE REAL SECRETARY OF EDUCATION PLEASE STAND-UP?

So, what will Arne Duncan do as President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of Education? Like Obama, Duncan has been known to straddle the middle of the road.

George Lucas's Edutopia proclaims::

Arne Duncan has a type of personality that Obama seems to prefer, which is a pragmatist who will bring about change, but he'll do it in a way that will minimize confrontation in conflict," says Jack Jennings, president of the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy. "He's brought about change in Chicago, but it hasn't been a head-on clash with the teachers' union. He's done it in a way that they all walk away from the table congratulating each other."

Even though the Progressives have claimed Obama as their own, Obama's true colors are beginning to slowly seep out. In actuality, Obama is as a hard driving pragmatist. I'm not sure what others will say about him, but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. said, "He's (Obama) a politician and I'm a minister. He is anaswerable to the people while I am answerable to God." Perhaps the real world needs a realist these days. In fact, it would be great to have access to Obama as he shifts and changes into Bill Clinton--with or without the libido--who needs to stay firmly left of center, rather than far left, to get his policies past.

IF I WERE SECRETARY OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The work that needs to be done on a policy level is to dismantle No Child Left Behind. The law is unreasonable and purports to have all children on grade level by 2012.

Now, if I designed a test that I knew all of the test takers would fail, I would conclude that the fault is with the test maker, not the test taker.

Students and their teachers cannot possibly achieve the aim that the proponents of of NCLB intended.

In it's place, I would write and support laws that made sure that all students had safe schools to go to, with curricula that inspired them to reach beyond themselves.

I would put the emphasis on achieveable goals for each school, classroom, and student with high expectations for each but no punitive high stakes measures.

I would put the emphasis squarely on teacher quality, with lots of observation and feedback and professional development, but I wouldn't make people fear for their jobs or livelihoods, unless they were truly mediocre or bad.

I would put the emphasis on varying the school day, allowing enough time for sleep, play, and reflection.

I would put the emphasis on creating time to reflect, think, and do. These would be factored into the school day and year. Enough of this frenetic pace, which is like manifest destiny in real time. It's not yoga time that I would look for but a walk in the woods time.

I would put the emphasis on improving consciousness in students ("wake up") rather than media literacy or drug awareness literacy or abstinence literacy. How about just literacy literacy? How about reading a book for reading a book's sake?

Finally, I would put the emphasis on listening to the needs and wants and desires of children, students, teachers, and parents. That is what education is about: Collaboration.

It is simple, it is neo-platonic, and it is what we should be after for our students and the people who love them.

Who Will Obama Pick as Secretary of Education? ~ By Kathleen Kingsbury

[reprinted from http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1857195,00.html]

As Barack Obama begins to assess his potential picks for his cabinet, Secretary of Education is not one of the positions you would necessarily expect him to focus on first. But American parents especially may wish to study up on the possible candidates. After all, if Obama's campaign proposals are to be fulfilled, Margaret Spellings' successor could oversee a dramatic $18 billion overhaul of the nation's public education system over the next few years.

Whoever gets the spot, Obama's new Ed chief should expect to face a huge test right off in the contentious reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind act, considered to be one of the first priorities in Congress come January. Down the road, he or she can also plan to direct the founding of hundreds of new charter schools and the spread of universal pre-K nationwide, as well as a continued focus on increased accountability and a better trained teacher corps.

So whom will President-Elect Obama tap for this enormous task? That announcement isn't expected until at least early next week. But here's a look at some of the presumed contenders.

JOEL KLEIN

Current position: New York City schools chancellor

Why he could be tapped: In New York, the former Clinton appointee has distinguished himself as a keen reformer under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. An attorney by training, Klein has also shown himself adept at working with unlikely partners — union leaders as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton — and is a major proponent of charter schools, a keystone in Obama's education agenda.

Why the job will go to someone else: With Bloomberg recently getting the OK to seek a third term as mayor, Klein may prefer to stay put and finish the job of reforming New York's 1,500 schools.

LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND

Current position: Top Obama education adviser

Why she could be tapped: Her day job is professor of education at Stanford, but for the past year, she has been a key voice defining Obama's positions on issues such as school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity.

Why the job will go to someone else: Darling-Hammond is not popular among education reformers, particularly those to the center-right. That's because her views on issues such as merit pay vs. teacher tenure are more conventional than even Obama's. So if the President-elect really wants to shake things up on the education front, Darling-Hammond won't likely be his choice.

ARNE DUNCAN

Current position: CEO of Chicago Public Schools

Why he could be tapped: Like Klein in New York, Duncan has made a name for himself as a reformer in a big city, accomplishments candidate Obama highlighted several times on the campaign trail. He's also a close friend and basketball buddy of the President-elect. And unlike Darling-Hammond, Duncan could represent a more neutral selection.

Why the job will go to someone else: A Duncan nod could risk upsetting Chicago mayor Richard Daley, a vocal advocate of the Chicago schools' chief.

JAMES HUNT, JR.

Current position: Former governor of North Carolina

Why he could be tapped: As governor, Hunt focused attention on one of Obama's key schools proposals: expanding early childhood education, especially to low-income and minority children. He also worked hard to improve teacher quality, testing innovations in this area of perpetual struggle for American schools. On the federal level, he recently served on Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

Why the job will go to someone else: Hunt has not been especially outspoken on how to expand charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools, which appears to be a priority for the Obama team.

JANET NAPOLITANO

Current position: Arizona's governor

Why she could be tapped: Once considered a contender for Obama's VP slot, Napolitano has signed legislation boosting elementary education in her state, including an initiative to guarantee full-day kindergarten throughout Arizona. She also co-chaired a panel called Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future, which in 2005 recommended a $325 billion increase in federal education spending over 10 years.

Why the job will go to someone else: Term limits prohibit Napolitano from running for governor again in 2010, making her a potential — and popular — candidate to vie for Arizona Sen. John McCain's seat in that year's election. She has also been mentioned as a possible pick for Attorney General in the Obama administration.

COLIN POWELL

Current position: Former Secretary of State in the first Bush Administration

Why he could be tapped: Since leaving the State Dept. in 2004, Gen. Powell and his wife Alma founded America's Promise Alliance, a group dedicated to improving the well-being of the country's young people. The non-profit has been especially strong on finding a means to combat the country's dropout crisis. Plus, Powell made a high-profile endorsement of Obama in the final weeks of the campaign.

Why the job will go to someone else: On the day after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Powell told reporters that he has not been asked nor does he plan to return to government service, preferring to instead leave the new Cabinet open to a younger generation.