Like Water Off A Duck’s Back [A Note on Duncan’s Legacy]
Six years ago, I remember sitting in an afternoon meeting with my principal and about 25 other administrators and educators, waiting patiently for a central official to come down and give us some awful news of some consequence for us and all of our work. The school official stood there whispering to an assistant, arms folded while everyone else chatted each other up about Mayor Bloomberg’s latest overnight budget purge. The meeting started as a mundane set of manufactured talking points from the PR department, but quickly escalated to a shouting match between those of us who sat (educators) and the one who stood (the school official). That was also the night that I found out firsthand how nice and well-meaning these central folks are, and, no matter how many insults and ad hominems shouted at the official, he would not be moved.
It’s the first time I learned the difference between temperament and action in education policy. Too many folks obfuscate both when we mean to address one.
Take, for example, the legacy of former Washington DC public schools Michelle Rhee, who remains A Note on Arne Duncan's Legacy: