Duncan has right record to lead schools
In putting together his Cabinet, President-elect Barack Obama has made risky choices - but at least one could be a slam-dunk.
Obama's choice of Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as secretary of education looks good all around. The 44-year-old Harvard-educated reformer and one-time pro basketball player has spent seven years overseeing the third-largest school district in the country. On the job, he railed against the achievement gap between low- and high-income students and tried to close it by setting higher goals and demanding results.
Even in a public school system that often tolerates mediocrity, harbors low expectations and puts the interests of adults before children, Duncan's model isn't exactly unique. Other teachers and administrators have figured out the first step to turning out better students is to reverse conventional thinking, demand more and increase accountability.
Yet, what's remarkable is that Duncan somehow managed to make changes without antagonizing the teachers unions. He supports merit pay for teachers, charter schools and school choice. He also supports the indispensable but controversial education reform law No Child Left Behind, though he'd like Congress to spend more on it. He would probably also like more flexibility since he has taken liberties with NCLB, such as when he decreed that students who scored poorly on standardized tests because they had limited English proficiency need not be held back.
Insisting that the right to a quality education is nothing short of a civil right, Duncan wasn't afraid to rankle parents by closing failing schools in Chicago or to suggest opening the nation's first gay-friendly high school. He even practiced a little tough love, making students who wanted to drop out sign declarations that said: "I will not be able to afford many things that I will see others acquiring." For those who got good grades, the schools chief launched a program using donations to pay students for academic achievement.
As education secretary, it will be Duncan's job to convince Congress to reauthorize NCLB, which - according to Bush administration officials - has narrowed the achievement gap between minorities and white students.
If confirmed, Arne Duncan should focus on pursuing five goals - maintaining accountability, raising expectations, encouraging innovative approaches to teaching, ending the culture of excuses for why some don't perform as well as others, and reminding everyone that schools exist for the enrichment of students, not for the convenience of adults who work there. If Duncan can serve as a passionate advocate for the nation's children without getting drawn into the old wars, then more power to him.
All Cabinet officials face pitfalls. Duncan will have to stand up to organized labor in the form of teachers unions. Avoiding conflict shouldn't mean surrendering to the powers that be. This job is too important. After all, how we educate our citizenry will help determine nothing less than the future prosperity and security of the country. And the person who sets the tone is the secretary of education.
© 2008, The San Diego Union-Tribune