Posted on 08/18/2011 2:59:25 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The early attacks on Gov. Rick Perry come as no surprise: He’s a formidable candidate and, as such, is bound to take a beating from the administration and the MSM. At least Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had the sense to criticize Perry for something outside the unassailable fortress of his jobs record. It would have been better for Arne, though, if he had thought through his remarks a bit more.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Texas’s school system “has really struggled” under Governor Rick Perry, a Republican candidate for president, and the state’s substandard schools do a disservice to children.
“Far too few of their high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college,” Duncan said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” airing Aug. 19- 20. “I feel very, very badly for the children there.”
“You have seen massive increases in class size,” Duncan said of the Texas public school system during Perry’s terms as governor since December 2000. “You’ve seen cutbacks in funding. It doesn’t serve the children well. It doesn’t serve the state well. It doesn’t serve the state’s economy well. And ultimately it hurts the country.”
Note the focus of Duncan’s comments: They turn on the fallacy that more money automatically means a better education. It’s an oft-repeated statistic, but it’s repeated for the simple reason that it makes the point: Since 1985, real federal spending on K-12 education has increased by 138 percent. On a per-student basis, federal spending on K-12 education has tripled since 1970. Yet, long-term measures of American students’ academic achievement have not seen similar increases.
Furthermore, Gov. Perry understands what too many governors don’t: Federal dollars for education — particularly in the case of Race to the Top — come with strings attached, even if those strings are hidden, as in the case of the “voluntary” national standards that accompanied RTTT funding (the adoption of which greatly improved the likelihood a state would score money from the federal government). Perry actually turned down federal dollars because he recognizes the role of the states, teachers and parents in education. The real question is: Who do you want to direct your child’s education? You and the teacher? Or distant, unelected bureaucrats?
Perry has made it possible for Texas to adopt some of the most rigorous standards in the country. In September 2009, Education Week even cited Texas as a leader in the adoption of college-ready standards. Perhaps Duncan feels spurned to have said what he said. It must have shocked him to encounter a politician who would actually say “no” to money for the sake of the freedom and flexibility that actually serve children’s educational needs well.
Nothing is doable if you don’t try. The Reagan administration did not try, not in any meaningful way. I don’t think they expended an real effort to deduce the budgets of this agency. Not many Republicans—especially among the elites—ever challenge the public school myth.
At least their grammar is better than yours, Arne.
My son had, at times, 25 kids in his kindergarten class - I know because I volunteered a lot. The Teacher was amazing and 7 of those students, including my son, were reading at a third grade level by the end of the year.
First grade - 13 to 17 kids in his class for the entire first half of the school year with a new teacher who sucked so badly he sat and colored all day. I pulled him out then and started homeschooling.
Class size means less than what a good teacher brings to the table.
This whole class size thing is a bunch of hooey. No reason you can’t have 50 in the room, with a competent teacher.
Interesting. I suppose “Secretary of Education” is some euphemism for a high-level campaign consultant post?
Well, you do have to factor in the discipline issues - teachers have NO control anymore, actually no one does. That is one of the main issues in public schools actually. But mainly I agree - class size shouldn’t matter, it certainly doesn’t in college.
Although I am not a Perry fanatic, this attack is absurd for two reasons. First, Texas schools’ are bad, but they are less bad than those of many states, and are certainly less bad than most if not all states with similar demographics. Texas government schools should be closed and the inmates freed, but that should happen everywhere.
Second, what makes Arne “Barack’s Jumpshot Buddy” Duncan fit to cast stones? Duncan was a failure in his tenure as the head of schools in Chicago. Even without adjusting for demographics, Texas students on average do as well as Illinois students on the NAEP. BUT, the Illinois schools have a far smaller percentage of “Hispanic” students (Texas has proportionally about twice as many - in fact, they are the majority in TX schools. Illinois has proportionately far more “whites and Asians”). I should also mention that Texas accomplishes rough parity with Illinois this while spending less money per student than Illinois and while having much worse demographics.
While I don’t have anything specific to use as a comparison between Duncan’s Chicago schools and, say, Houston’s, I am fairly sure that Houston’s student do better than Chicago’s.
Somebody with time and the money ought collect the data to shove this up Duncan’s nose.
If Perry is to be criticized on education, it would be that he hasn’t done much to get rid of government schools. Having said that, no other candidate has either. At least Perry has been friendly to the idea of letting the education $ follow the child.
You left off "purista FReepers" who hate him more than those!
Questioning some of Perry’s past statements and actions is not hate...I’ve questioned them, but as of now, he is still my choice for the GOP nominee.
That sorta worked back in my day (1950s) with ruler-wielding nuns. And the knowledge that whatever you got in school you were gonna get twice over when Dad got home.
These days a good number of the kids come in totally undisciplined, and the "rules" make it pretty difficult to do anything to whip em into shape. My daughter teaches in an upscale suburban district and 45% of her class is not from "traditional intact families". You can imagine what it's like in the city districts where half the kids don't even know who Dad is....
I'm not talking about that. You've seen the vitriol. It's crazy. Actually not just Freepers. Malkin's rant is weird, too, compared to the fact that she hasn't drilled down on other candidates that way.
We all know Bush was not a conservative but by God, I'd sure as hell rather suffered through 4 more years of him or even McStain than this Marxist we have now.
What, Perry wouldn’t allow for the “queering” of Texas’ public school children? As they say in Texas, steers not queers...
Great info.
Yes. You need to add the msm, dana peRINO, the Bushs, and as soon as all the demonRATS find out about the size of Perry's balls, they will both fear and hate him.
Oh, I wasn't suggesting that he actually run. Just announce, to set the libs off. There'd be smoke coming off the MessNBC microphones. It'd be fun to watch!
I think Texas has about the largest percentage of English as a second language (ESL) students in the nation. Although it’s hard to compare it to cities like Chicago and Detroit, where the majority of students can’t even speak their primary language.
“With any luck at all, Arne Duncan would be out of a job in Jan 2013”
With a lot of prayer and hard work....he’ll be out!
Let's see...Texas shunts 25% of fuel taxes to education, then we have ever increasing property taxes, and the lottery. What more do they need?
If the school district superintendants would take a 50% pay cut to their 6-figure+ salary, and the districts would cut back on all the administrative positions, Texas could hire/retain more teachers.
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