Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education and one of Obama’s best friends from Chicago, did a very revealing thing a few days ago. He apparently read from a script provided by the White House.
This script was intended to spread panic by claiming that civilization would collapse if the Sequester deal went through.
“There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can’t come back this fall,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Sunday (Feb. 24) on CBS’s “Face the Nation.
Even the Washington Post could figure this out: “Teacher pink slips claim by Duncan not backed by evidence.”
Politico, a left-wing site, also tells the truth. Well, not the site itself but the savvy people who visit the site -- they tell the truth:
“Actually, we could defund the dept of education and lay off Arne and all of its staff and not experience any hardship whatsoever. Arne is lying, as usual. Teachers are not federal employees.”
“The Obama Administration is now OUTRIGHT LYING. Teachers are paid for the state, not the federal government. Nothing will happen to teachers....Politico naturally says nothing of the obvious lie, just repeats it.”
Some will see this is a cautionary story about how Obama’s politics are corroding and corrupting the country.
Duncan’s behavior also raises concerns that the Education Establishment in the United States is not reliable.
This powerful clique has consistently promoted educational theories and methods with bad track records: sight-words to teach reading, Reform Math to teach arithmetic; and Constructivism coupled with learning styles, self-esteem, et al to teach facts. Optimistic claims are made. But these methods typically produce inferior results.
Ideally, our Secretary of Education would speak truth to power, and truth to the nation. It’s not reassuring that Arne Duncan will so quickly say what Obama wants said.
But this may well be the problem for many years. Arne Duncan has crisscrossed the country promoting Common Core Curriculum. A good case can be made that we do not need it. Obama forced this thing on the country by bribing the states with large grants. In return, the states have to let the federal government regulate education. This is a dangerous deal. And some argue that Duncan was selling an inferior product.
The better course is for states to do their best, and compete with other states. Choice and competition will probably give better results than top-down bureaucratic control. As Mao said, “Let a thousand flowers bloom.”
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