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Living in Chicago I am so happy that he is gone. I feel bad for the rest of the country now, but at least he is gone. The man does not use a computer. This is kind of comical considering how our children need to learn how to use these wonderful devices, yet their leader has no clue how to use one. OUr test scores have gone up 4%. In polling that number is within the margin of error, in other words it could be a statistical anomaly that the test scores have gone up. Also I do not believe there has been any studies in regard to how many kids quit school when theirs is closed, instead of going to their new school. Maybe this idea might correlate to our crime rate skyrocketing in recent years? Either way, this is a horrible pick.

His secretary prints out the emails he receives, he writes the response and the secretary responds. The man literally does not know how to use a computer. My source is my best friend who works for CPS in the Budgeting Office, he is high level and knows Arne quite well. Also when our city had the prtoest over the first day of school, the protest was announced a few weeks prior, the announcement was made at that point becuase the organziers knew Arne would be unable to comment on the issue.

This quote from Greg Palast worries me;

The problem with Duncan is not party affiliation. The problem is education philosophy. And Duncan is a Bush baby through and through, a card-carrying supporter of the program best called, “No Child’s Behind Left.”

At the heart of the program is testing. And more testing. Testing instead of teaching. When tests go badly, the solution is to push the low-test-score kids to drop out of school. If triage isn’t enough, then attack their teachers.

Here’s how Duncan operates this Bush program in Chicago at Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto. Teachers there work with kids from homeless shelters from an economically devastated neighborhood. Believe it or not, the kids don’t get high test scores. So Chicago fired the teachers, every one of them. Then they brought in new teachers and fired THEM too when, surprise!, test scores still didn’t rise.

The reward for a teacher volunteering for a tough neighborhood is to get harassed, blamed and fired. Now THAT’S a brilliant program, Mr. Duncan. But Duncan’s own failures have not gotten HIM fired. As long as his 20-foot jumpshot holds, he’s Mr. Secretary.

In no other cabinet department is the lack of expertise, lack of accomplishment, lack of a degree in the field found acceptable but in Education.

But what horrifies me more than Duncan’s lack of credentials is Obama’s kowtowing to the right-wing clique crusading against the teachers’ union and progressive education. The ill philosophy behind the Bush-brand education theories Duncan promotes, “Teach-to-the-Test,” forces teachers to limit classroom time to pounding in rote low-end skills, easily measured on standardized tests. The transparent purpose is to create a future class of worker-drones. Add in some computer training and – voila! – millions of lower-income kids are trained on the cheap to function, not think.

http://www.gregpalast.com/update-obama-slam-duncans-education/#more-2174

Dang, this is someone Bush would have picked. I thought I was voting against four more years of Bush-type decisions. Sad, very sad.