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Published on Saturday, July 24, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
The Audacity of Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan stood before the NAACP convention last week to repeat his claim that “education is the civil rights issue of our generation.” He also declared “the only way to equality in society is to achieve equality in the classroom.” Since Mr. Duncan did not spell out what he meant by equality or civil rights, let’s see if we can extrapolate his meaning from the policies he is pushing hard to be adopted across America, even if his heavy-handed forcing means ignoring the lawful Congressional role in making federal education policy.
Apparently, Mr. Duncan does not believe that the equality shortage in classrooms that we have known about ever since poor children started going to school can be helped by fair housing policies, better transportation policies, improved health policies, or new jobs policies, any of which we know could affect the poverty levels of urban and rural America, where rates are now the highest, after taxes, of any industrialized nation. According to Mr. Duncan, it would seem that policy shifts or new efforts in these areas are unimportant, for it is “only” in the classroom that we may hope to achieve equality.
Well, what kind of equality in the classroom would that be? Apparently, it is first and foremost a segregated kind of equality, a segregation that is aided by the spread of charter schools, which remains a top priority of the Administration. Two studies last year, in fact, showed incontrovertible evidence for the segregative effects of charter schools, whether run by non-profit or for-profit corporations.
So by ignoring segregation within charters, we must assume that the kind of equality that Mr. Duncan is talking about does not depend upon the sharing of social and cultural capital that occurs when socioeconomic classes are educated together, and it is the kind of equality that apparently pays no attention to the facility and funding advantages accrued when middle class parents lend their voices to decisions within the schooling community.
Secondly, it has become a harsh, punishing kind of equality centered on remediation, ever since the “let a thousand flowers bloom approach to charters” has been replaced by an urgency to ramp up and bring to scale the “no excuses” KIPP schools and the KIPP behave-alikes. In these "no excuses" schools, equality demands total compliance by children who go to school nine or more hours a day and then have 2 to 3 hours of homework each night. Plus Saturdays and part of the summer. In order to be equal in these school and, thus, make up for the poverty that puts these students behind, they must be willing to give up their childhoods, family, and friends for a chance at passing the necessary tests that may or may not prepare them for college some day. For even though the “no excuses” chain gangs remain the dominant model for corporate education reform, we know very little about how these children will fare in independent learning environments after years of total compliance and behavioral/psychological modification.
Thirdly, it is the kind of equality that denies the importance of the other massive inequalities within the communities where these poor children live. It is the kind of equality that does nothing to aid the child who must dodge bullets on the way home from a 9-hour school day, or who must return home to find nothing to eat. It is the kind of equality that refuses to enroll a child whose parents are not willing to sacrifice their child to a schooling regimen that parents of the leafy suburbs would consider abusive to children if it were their own being subjected to it.
Fourthly, it is the kind of equality that depends upon assessments that put poor children at a great disadvantage all along the line, for there is no standardized test used in schools today, whether in third or thirteenth grade, that does not demonstrate, on average, a direct correlation between family income and testing outcomes.
In short, it is the kind of equality that depends upon a race that has many starting lines but only one finish line, a race wherein the hordes of losers claim their place among those who deserve to be the “unequal,” children who will be dropped out, pushed out, and eventually forgotten behind the walls of the workhouses and correctional facilities that mark the destination in the school to prison pipeline.
If Arne Duncan’s views on equality are evidenced in his actions, it leaves us with a troubling realization. For to understand that for Mr. Duncan to be right in saying that “education is the civil rights issue of this generation,” we must stand shamefaced in admitting that civil rights now demands from equality what we previously could expect only from oppression.
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15 Comments so far
Show AllI forgot - was Duncan appointed by Bush or Beige Bush?
Beige did it - Bush's Ed Sec was Margaret Spelling.
Duncan got his job because he plays basketball with Obama, not because he has any credentials, which he does not. His experience running the Chicago school system shows how little he knows, and how shallow his ideas are.
Obama's basketball is like Clinton's saxophone. Nice; but, then what?
What's sad is--wealthy, well-educated parents who brought up their kids with books and concerts and plays--wouldn't think of sending their children to charters, especially those with the military discipline, the hours of homework, the rote memorization, the constant prepping for the all-important tests. Arne Duncan and Obama wouldn't send their kids to places like that. They would want their children to go on field trips, enjoy reading books that have nothing to do with tests, have time to just be kids. It's only the poor and desperate that imagine learning and a better life have to do with harsh discipline, material rewards for high test scores, punishment for low scores, and constant work-work-work all day long. The end result is the kids hate reading and learning--they would never think of picking up a book just for the fun of it.
Yes. They have been prepped to comply, comply, comply.
Thank you for the depth of insight on this crucial issue-- inequality in education. Until zoning and development patterns in housing allow for mixed-income neighborhoods everywhere, we cannot expect much improvement in educating all our children in the way they deserve. There may be little pockets of "success" here and there, but as you so rightly point out, the "success" too often costs children their childhood.
Having volunteered in inner-city Cleveland schools for many years, and now in a school which is fast becoming predominantly Latino, I've seen first hand the enormous obstacles to learning, and the budgetary constraints that still deprive children of books, supplies, and technology that suburban school children take as a given. What most people do not understand is that "equal funding" of urban/rural/suburban schools is not nearly enough to make up for the deprivation in the low-income areas.
Even before mixed-income zoning in housing patterns can be accomplished, it would be possible to significantly improve urban/rural education. But that will only happen if those in better off districts are made aware of the importance and the moral imperative of opening our minds and hearts to the plight of those most in need. If that were to happen in large enough numbers, it would follow that people would insist that state resources be redirected in much larger amounts to those in the neediest areas.
I'm not holding my breath, but I applaud and encourage this author to continue to speak these truths in as wide an arena as possible.
true,
Nice comment. In my state (Michigan), students from the wealthier parts of the state get as much as 12000 per student. In my district (blue collar white), we get about 7000. Detroit students get more, as they should, but not enough to overcome the problems students and teachers face. The state should provide equal funding for all students; then the Federal government should step forward with extra money to supply the needs of high risk populations. In addition, all students should receive an education in facilities that are roughly comparable. That, of course, is a joke. Most countries--like Japan, for example--give the same amount of money per student to school districts. That is not appropriate either, considering the needs of districts that have large numbers of at-risk students.
JIM HORN provides a powerful analysis that accounts for all the pertinent facts of students' lives, especially those students being punished for the compromised fiscal facts of their existences.
Charter schools and the authoritarian call to discipline (masquerading as an educational ideal) are anathema to the central premise of any democratic society. Public education exists to support an informed population, the bedrock of any republic where THE PEOPLE are expected to be sovereign.
It's not enough that the rich have altered the tax codes so that they pay far too little. Not enough that the banks have been bailed out so that THEIR speculations (and losses) are covered by the workers, those who can barely make ends meet these days. This group now sees fit to deprive children of a basic education. In some cases this ruse exists so that its sponsors can claim more tax credits for their own offsprings' privileged education. For this heist to gain tread, it must successfully allege that public schools are not doing THE job. How else could so much money get earmarked for the so-called alternative?
Notice that Obama spends money on "Abstinence only" which is another give-away to the church crowds, and/or fundamentalist flocks. Many of these same persons prefer charter schools. If they haven't gotten tax credits for moving their children to parochial schools, then that's the next step. The net effect is to direct less and less money towards public education; and then turn around and blame these schools/students/teachers for "failing." It's kind of like covertly poisoning a population with GM "food," tainted industrial fillers, and toxic chemical residue and then demanding that citizens, thus exposed, pay exorbitant rates for cures.
Disaster Capitalism now touches every aspect of our lives... and NOTHING is sacred, or left alone to heal, thrive, or retain its priceless essence.
Looks like Arne is in lock-step with his elitist brother at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They sure do stick together, don't they?
It appears that Arne Duncan supports a militarized paradigm of education for poor children. Disgraceful!
It appears that Arne Duncan supports a militarized paradigm of education for poor children. Disgraceful!
I'm sick of all the inflated idiot rhetoric that comes from these corporate crooks of the administration, who then leave actual leftists holding the bag while they continue to pump profits into pockets of the lobbies they serve so assiduously.
Fuck Arne Duncan and the horse's arse he rode in on.
There is a whole field of values missing from the Obama/Duncan educational model and equality is the most important. Thank you for the thoughtful perspective. Their educational model is oppressive- and it sacrifices all of the Christ-like cooperative values for cheap marketplace tricks on American children. Where is contemplation, sharing, caring, wisdom, experience, transcendence, illumination, care, patience, service, intentionality, revelation, discernment, clarity.. to name a few also cherished values- though seemingly less prevalent in education and our society.