The Obama Administration — and the Democratic Party’s — War On Teachers
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Education Arne Duncan in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, where the president announced that Duncan will be stepping down in December after 7 years in the Obama administration. Duncan will be returning to Chicago and Obama has appointed senior Education Department official, John King Jr., center, to oversee the Education Department. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
By Mark Naison
The war on public-school teachers — and on public education general — continues to be one of the most disturbing aspects of the Obama administration’s seven-year tenure. With the President’s nomination of John King for the position of Secretary of Education, he reaches a new low.
Appointing Arne Duncan, someone with no teaching experience, as Secretary of Education, Barack Obama set the tone for his administration. Shortly after his election, he offered praise for the mass firing of teachers in Central Falls, Rhode Island, who refused to accept dramatic modifications of their contract to lengthen the school day.
The attack escalated with the unveiling of Race to the Top, which gave huge grants to states that rated teachers on the basis of test scores, closed schools designated as “failing” — again on the basis of test scores — and gave preference to charter schools over public schools. The Department of Education’s enthusiastic support for the Common Core Standards — formulated with little teacher input — and grants to Teach for America set the tone for national education policy.
Secretary Duncan attacked the nation’s public-school teachers as poorly trained, poorly qualified and in dire need of replacement by higher-achieving students from theThe Obama Administration - and the Democratic Party's - War On Teachers - BK Nation: