Biden Administration Continues to Hire Key Staff for ED Department Before Confirmation of Secretary or Deputy Secretary | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden Administration Continues to Hire Key Staff for ED Department Before Confirmation of Secretary or Deputy Secretary | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden Administration Continues to Hire Key Staff for ED Department Before Confirmation of Secretary or Deputy Secretary

Thirty-one years ago, I was invited by Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander to join him at the U.S. Department of Education as Assistant Secretary of Education in Charge of Research and Improvement. Before he invited me, he learned a lot about my work and my views. It was a big jump for me because I had never planned to work in government and was surprised to be invited. After I was confirmed by the Senate, I selected the person I wanted as my Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education. It was Francie Alexander, who had been Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Assessment in the State of California. I had gotten to know her when I worked on the California history-social science framework in the late 1980s.

Given this brief personal history, I am puzzled that the Biden administration is staffing up the key jobs in the U.S. Department of Education before any of the top officials (Secretary of Education, Deputy Secretary of Education, Undersecretary of Education) have been confirmed. The next layer of officials–the Assistant Secretaries–have not even been named.

Yet the administration continues to roll out lists of people who will be deputies to Assistant Secretaries who are as yet unknown; “chief of staff” to an official who has not been confirmed; “confidential assistant” to a high official. CONTINUE READING: Biden Administration Continues to Hire Key Staff for ED Department Before Confirmation of Secretary or Deputy Secretary | Diane Ravitch's blog

Diversity Hiring and the White Lie of “Most Qualified Candidate” – radical eyes for equity

Diversity Hiring and the White Lie of “Most Qualified Candidate” – radical eyes for equity

Diversity Hiring and the White Lie of “Most Qualified Candidate”

As the news has spread about my university being the latest case of white faculty claiming false diverse identities, I have seen on social media one of the negative consequences I anticipated from this situation—people criticizing diversity hiring.

I expected this sort of backlash because every time the issue of needing to hire a more diverse faculty has been raised among faculty, one of the first responses is, “We should always hire the most qualified candidate.”

The person voicing that position is always a white man.

And each time a new hire turns out to be a white man (again) even though the final 2 or 3 candidates include diverse people, the response is, “We hired the best candidate.”

The problem with this claim and even commitment is that white men constitute only about a third of the population, but are the majority in many fields—and almost always the majority in positions of power.

If mostly white men are making hiring decisions, there is a significant CONTINUE READING: Diversity Hiring and the White Lie of “Most Qualified Candidate” – radical eyes for equity

Hiring? Use an Anti-Racist Lens! - Philly's 7th Ward

Hiring? Use an Anti-Racist Lens! - Philly's 7th Ward

HIRING? USE AN ANTI-RACIST LENS!

As a principal of three neighborhood schools serving majority Black students, I was always in talent acquisition mode. More on point, I was always in talent acquisition and cultivation mode, since the best recruitment strategy is a great retention strategy. 

You can’t fire your way to building a great institution of learning. You have to hire and coach extremely well. But that does not mean you hold on to anyone whose values do not align with that of your school and the community you serve. And these values must be clear, pervasive, and protected. 

HOW SHOULD SCHOOL LEADERS CHOOSE TEACHERS TO HIRE? 

I’ve been asked a lot recently: how would you hire for this upcoming school year—given the impact of the pandemic and the summer of uprisings against the more systemic, more ingrained, more destructive culture of racism plaguing our nation? 

Other than seeking additional expertise in online education and distance learning, I want to be clear: were I still a school principal, my hiring goals, approach, and practices would not change.  CONTINUE READING: Hiring? Use an Anti-Racist Lens! - Philly's 7th Ward