And it’s finally time to call it something else.
Arne Duncan’s announcement that he – and he alone – would be deciding which states get waivers from the albatross that is No Child Left Behind effectively moved what was once known as the “school reform movement to “public ed policy”. Oh, sure. Duncan says he will have a committee or board which looks at the waiver application, but he’s not fooling anyone. And those details are coming next month, by-the-way. Duncan appointed himself Education Czar yesterday.
The only one as happy as Duncan is this week is former governor, turned-test-based ed reformer, Jeb Bush, who went so far as to urge Duncan to seize control of the nation’s schools in an op-ed he penned last week. Some are saying that Duncan’s move yesterday makes his own education initiative, Race to the Top, the law of the land. And why not? Duncan just replaced existing law with his judgement.
Perhaps its a good time to ask whether or not its a good idea for so few people to dictate public education policy . People like Jeb Bush and Michelle Rhee have used the money from a few billionaires like Bill Gates, the Walton family and Eli Broad to fund massive clever marketing schemes laced with overt propaganda to bring us to where we are today. Duncan’s just their willing tool.
It is interesting that Jeb also likes the idea of circumventing Congress. I find the tepid response from the House Committee on Education and Work Force an indication that they are inclined to look the other way on this overreach, given the powerful forces pushing for fiscally irresponsible experimentation on the nation’s schools.