Arne Duncan-backed by the ruling class

December 16, 4:04 PMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed by Obama's pick for Secretary of Education. 

The naive part of me secretly hoped that Obama would be a bit of a "maverick" and buck conventionality.  After eight years of watching the interests of the wealthy minority in our country take precedence over the needs of the average person, I quietly nursed the hope that we had elected a president who would reverse the trend of putting the interests of children below those of big business.

I guess I'm an optimist at heart.

Sadly, Obama's choice for Secretary of Education falls right into line with the current movement which favors the desire of those who value profit above the needs of our most vulnerable.

Silly me.

Noted educator and activist, Susan Ohanian, has posted an editorial written by the magazine Substance, which eloquently expresses my feelings about Obama's pick.  Here's a glimpse:

The key to Duncan’s ability to get away with the Big Lie, however, is not Duncan’s own eloquence, but the fact that he has the backing of Chicago’s ruling class. From the CEOs of the city’s largest corporations (organized into the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club) to the editorial boards of the two power daily newspapers, Duncan’s lies are amplified every day, and except for the pages of this newspaper and a few other places, unchallenged in the public arena where democratic debate is supposed to take place.

After we reviewed the school closings in Chicago since 2001, when Mayor Daley appointed Duncan the second “Chief Executive Officer” in CPS history, the shocking details began to become clear. Not only were poor black children being forced out of their homes (public housing reform, it was called), but they were also being deprived over and over of access to public schools.
 

Sound familiar?

Read more at Susan Ohanian.