Understanding Government

Illinois is one nine states eligible to compete for a third round of “Race to the Top” grants provided by the U.S. Education Department, reports Lisa Lambert of Reuters. Race to the Top was originally part of the stimulus bill but the 2011 federal budget called for a $200 million pool of money that will be distributed to winning state grant applicants.

Race to the Top is a signature program of the Obama administration as it has effectively provided incentives for states to adopt the education reform agenda of Education Sec. Arne Duncan. Duncan’s home state of Illinois is a model example of this: the state legislature recently passed a sweeping education reform bill that enables school districts to judge teachers on performance evaluations instead of seniority, and encourages charter schools.

The Chicago Tribune’s Joel Hood and Diane Rado have a damning report today on Jean-Claude Brizard — Rahm Emanuel’s choice to lead the Chicago Public School system.  Brizard’s tenure at the helm of Rochester public schools indicates that the once prosaic job of public schools chief is increasingly like being a professional sports coach (or bad state governor): Someone comes in promising great success and a winning culture and slinks away after a few years with no tangible improvements. This trend is not good for achieving the complicated education “reform” measures that Education Sec. Arne Duncan is trying to enact on a national level.

According to the Tribune, Brizard achieved something of the trifecta in bad public school system management: low-achieving students, failing schools, and upset teachers. (more…)

Arne Duncan

Joel Hood of the Chicago Tribune reports that Education Sec. Arne Duncan has consulted Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel about Emanuel’s choice for a new head of Chicago Public Schools. Emanuel will select what is to be the 3rd Chief Education Officer of CPS since Duncan left that post to join the White House in January 2009. The Chicago Public Schools show the messy reality of the education reform movement that Duncan champions. As both Education Sec. and CPS head Duncan has pushed forward a series of reform measures: Needed now is stable leadership to implement the reforms.

Duncan was replaced by Ron Huberman who was replaced by Terry Mazany who exited office with the sobering news that CPS had a $720 million deficit. (more…)

The Chicago Math & Science Academy is a charter school that, since it opened in 2004, has received 80 percent of its operating expenses from Chicago taxpayers. Much of the other 20 percent comes from federal and state grants. But the school says it’s a private institution, the Chicago Tribune’s Joel Hood reports, because it has freedom over policy and personnel that traditional public schools don’t have. Chicago Math & Science may be making this argument so their teachers have a harder time unionizing. Regardless of the motivation, though, the idea that charter schools are not part of the government is preposterous. (more…)

James Nord at MinnPost writes up a critical speech by Education Sec. Arne Duncan, in this instance an address to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Duncan criticized a lack of urgency by Minnesota political leaders and more specifically took the state for task for having yet to adopt a set of education “reform” policies favored by the Obama administration. (more…)