In the Huffington Post, Diane Ravitch puts into words what many of us have been subconsciously wondering--why is Barack Obama bringing us term three of the GW Bush education agenda? Didn't Obama have a big old banner that said, "Change?"Was he asking for change, perhaps? I certainly got enough calls asking for contributions. And now that he finally won, he's sending his pal Arne out to tell my state that we don't qualify for federal funds unless we lift the cap on charter schools. I found many of Obama's ideas about education distasteful, but I don't recall his broadcasting that notion.
Not only that, but Duncan is out demanding that Mayor Bloomberg's dictatorship over public schools continue, and that no significant checks or balances be put in place. In fact, he's even strong-armed the Citizens Union to support Bloomberg's one-man rule over an education system the mayor's nor the chancellor's children attended--opting for private schools with the small classes they deny NYC's 1.1 million schoolchildren.
Checks and balances are a cornerstone of our democracy, and it's remarkable to see highly-placed federal officials like Duncan taking such an active stand against them. President Obama continues to disappoint, and by virtue of being a Democrat, manages to subvert public education in ways GW Bush could only dream of.
I thought we'd won this election. Day by day, I become less convinced.
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