New Secretary of Education Aims for Radical Reforms

 

“It doesn’t just need a tweak. It needs a fundamental change,” says new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

  Although everyone in the country has heard about Barack Obama’s commitment to reforming the educational system, many have no idea who or what his Cabinet pick for Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, will bring to the table.

  Duncan, the former chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, was quietly named the U.S. Secretary of Education on January 20^th, 2009.

  What Duncan will do to reform the U.S. educational system is anyone’s guess.

  Duncan will inherit an educational program greatly affected by the No Child Left Behind Act, which many claim was a step in the wrong direction.

  The 44-year old Duncan grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where President Obama and his family have lived for several years, and also plays basketball on a regular basis with President Obama, according to Time Magazine. Duncan also graduated from the prestigious law school Harvard University, much like Obama.

  Post-graduation from Harvard, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia for four years before returning to his hometown of Chicago in 1992.  back in Chicago, Duncan proceeded to found a public school, called Ariel Community Academy (ACA).

  After ACA had gained a reputation as an innovative and successful institution and Duncan was tapped as head of Chicago Public Schools in 2001.

  Chicago has long been recognized as one of the most challenging school districts in the country, but Duncan has been able to oversee a rise in state test scores, as well as increase the graduation rate by six percent and open 53 new schools.

  The answers to Duncan’s rescue of Chicago schools, many say, lie in his policies. Duncan stands in opposition to a traditional educational system, which is governed by teachers unions and government standards for education. Duncan mainly stresses accountability, or in other words, rewarding the best teachers and firing the worst.

  More specifically, Duncan also supports performance based pay, a controversial issue amongst teachers. According to Duncan, teachers should be paid according to how well their students performed in a variety of tests. This issue is where Duncan has mainly drawn criticism.

  Duncan loosely supports the NCLB act. Duncan claims that “Congress should maintain the framework of high expectations and accountability”. However, Duncan also suggests that “it should also amend the law to give schools, districts and states the maximum amount of flexibility, particularly districts like ours, with a strong track record of achievement and accountability”.

  Critics contend that the NCLB, while raising standardized test scores, has basically forced teachers into a set curriculum in which students are taught a simple set of skills, only needed to pass a test rather than actually gain an education they can utilize in the future.

  The NCLB, critics claim, also punishes low-performing students for poor results on standardized tests. Critics argue that punitive measures push students who cannot perform at the necessary level out of school to increase test scores rather than encourage such students to complete an education and graduate high school.

  Higher level students are also being hit by the act, as schools push funding to core curriculum to make sure students meet a lowered standard and decrease the emphasis on honors and AP classes, according to the National Education Association.

  Although Duncan mainly has bipartisan support for his ideas right now, he has drawn fire from a cornucopia of areas. Duncan’s detractors suggest that he is attempting to turn the school system into a “marketplace,” where schools compete for the best students and those institutions that cannot retain excellent test scores and grades would be subject to closings and/or mass firings.

  Duncan supports a plan called “Renaissance 2010” which he believes will increase the amount of good teachers and also “blur the line between public and private schools”. The plan will close low-performing schools and replace them with smaller, entrepreneurial schools. These schools, according to Duncan will be free from unions and select state regulations, allowing administrators to dictate performance-based pay and create schools that cater to newer technology.

  Overall, Duncan looks like a wild-card as Secretary of Education. Duncan could completely reform the American school system. While some believe Duncan will create an entirely new system in which unions would be broken and schools would focus more on student performance. Critics say he could also completely destroy what education in America is if he standardizes education and bases performance on test scores.

  Duncan’s original goal was to create “the best urban school district in the nation,” according to Catalyst Chicago. Now, Duncan has an entire nation to create the best school system in the world.