Sec Arne Duncan Speaks – He is Doing the Real Work, (not like us “armchair pundits”) #Teachers? #Parents? #RutRoe Do you hear them flapping? #BATs
Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education – Sept 30, 2013 at National Press Club – State of Education in America
(Video in link – I transcribed a bit below, as best as I could):
Duncan:
“Also inhabiting this bubble are some ‘arm chair pundits’ who insist our efforts to improve public education are somehow doomed to fail, either because they believe the government isn’t capable of meaningfully improving education or because they think education reform can’t possibly work since the real problem with schools is that so many children are born poor.
“In blogs, in books, in tweets, some pundits even say our schools are performing just fine and that fundamental change isn’t needed or that we have to address poverty first before schools can improve student achievement. “
“Too many inhabitants of this alternative universe are so supremely confident in their perspective that they have stopped listening to people with a different viewpoint. Instead of talking with each other, and more importantly, listening to each