Defending Arne Duncan, sort of
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is getting bashed by critics and even supporters for telling Congress that 82 percent of public schools could be at risk of failing to meet education goals this year, up from 37 percent last year.People are coming out of the woodwork accusing him of making up the figure in a bid to persuade Congress to rewrite No Child Left Behind, the law that carries student achievement requirements and penalties for schools that fail to meet them. Here’s what Duncan said, according to testimony prepared for his appearance this week before the House Education and the Workforce Committee:“Current law also sets annual targets for proficiency and mandates that every student meet those goals by 2014. Today, almost 40 percent of America’s schools are not meeting their goals, and as we approach the 2014 deadline, that number will rise steeply.“In fact, we did an analysis which shows that