Did Arne Duncan rebrand ‘no excuse’ school reform?
It is forgivable if you are tired of hearing about “no excuses” school reform, but read this anyway because it is a new look at the old mantra. It was written by Jeff Bryant, an Associate Fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and the owner of a marketing and communications consultancy. It serves numerous organizations including Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, PBS, and International Planned Parenthood Foundation. He writes extensively about public education policy at The Education Opportunity Network. Follow Jeff on Twitter: jeffbcdmBy Jeff Bryant
“No excuse” has been a mantra from people who present themselves as advocates for “reforming” America’s public schools. And the term is a “pillar” of more than one popular charter school franchise.
The term originated from the belief that “the schoolteacher’s age-old excuse” was that factors outside the classroom – such as “not enough money, indifferent parents, kids