The Arne Duncan era is over — but his noxious policies mean childhood in America is still under threat
"Reforming schools should not be a proxy for reforming society," educator and journalist Megan Erickson tells Salon
In keeping with a long Washington tradition of announcing less-than-good news at the end of the week, when many journalists are operating at three-quarter-speed (due to hangovers or laziness), the Obama administration announced on Friday that Arne Duncan, President Obama’s old hoops buddy, who the Washington Post once called “the most powerful education secretary in U.S. history,” was stepping down from the Department of Education. He was one of the precious few original members of the administration still standing. It had been a long seven years.
Duncan is leaving the DOE in a politically awkward position; it is currently a target of abuse from both the Tea Party right and the populist left. But as Politico’s Michael Grunwald recently detailed — in a profile of Duncan that now reads like a first draft of his legacy — that’s been true for the Duncan-era department essentially since Day One. Consummate progressive technocrat that he is, Duncan has always been drawn to top-down solutions, regardless of whether the politics made sense. And for nearly an entire presidency, it seemed to work.
Lately, though, it seems that the education reform movement that Duncan has so conspicuously embraced has lost some momentum. While many of the changes spurred by “Race to the Top” won’t go away any time soon, there’s at least some evidence to suggest that, as a political force, the education reform movement, which has never had major grassroots behind it, may have peaked. And if the next president is teachers’ union favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton, it’s even possible that some of the measures undertaken by Duncan and supported by reformers may be reversed.
If that’s the case, there will be plenty of folks who won’t be crying. And one of them will be Megan Erickson, the educator, journalist and author whose new book “Class War: The Privatization of Childhood” was released by Verso Books last month. Using her experience as a teacher for a foundation, Erickson subjects not only the education reform movement but much of modern childhood itself to a leftist analysis. Her conclusions suggest that while figures like Duncan are part of the problem, if the goal is to shield childhood from neoliberalism as much as possible, then defeating reformers isn’t enough.
Recently, Salon spoke with Erickson over the phone about her her book, Arne Duncan, the education reform movement and how neoliberalism is changing our very understanding of childhood’s purpose. Our conversation, which can be found below, has been edited for clarity and length. (Disclosure: I am a fan of Jacobin, where Erickson serves as an editor, and have previously written two posts for the magazine’s blog.)
So where did this book come from?
I got my master’s degree teaching at Columbia University at Teacher’s College. I student-taught 9th and 10th grade at Stuyvesant High School. Then I taught at the Young Woman’s Leadership School Network; and I actually had a great experience there.
What I saw in the schools really dismayed me; just the general atmosphere of pressure and standardized testing. At the same time, I was living in Greenpoint, so I would see kids running from the YMCA all the time. They were playing, they were learning music and getting outdoor experience in the park — they were having fun. It was the way teaching should be, as opposed to the kind of punitive, “metal-detector” The Arne Duncan era is over — but his noxious policies mean childhood in America is still under threat - Salon.com: