Why Are We Listening to Arne Duncan?
SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 5639
Title: An act relating to education governance.
Arne Duncan has brought us merit pay, closing schools and turning them into charter schools, firing an entire school staff for no good reason and high stakes testing. None of these “reforms” has raised test scores or strengthened school communities.
On Monday, Secretary Duncan spoke via video conference to our state representatives about Governor Gregoire’s bill to consolidate several programs under the auspices of the Governor’s office and have a governor appointed state school board.
There are many flaws in this idea. First is the fact that the governorship is a political position that can change every four years therefore the ideas and whims of that governor or their supporters can make drastic changes to how our schools are run. Our school policies would change with the political wind. Because the governor is a politician, there could also be strong lobbying by big money interest in reforming education to the flavor of the month, eliminating the democratic process.