The choice of Education Secretary is the edublog equivalent of American Idol, and Chicago’s Arne Duncan is Fantasia. Lord, but I do love the blogs.
Fordham’s Checker Finn pronounces Duncan a “terrific pick….a proven and committed and inventive education reformer, not tethered to the public-school establishment and its infinite interest groups.” Joel Klein likes the pick, while Democrats for Education Reform reminds everyone they touted Duncan weeks ago. A-Rus at This Week in Education credits Duncan for longevity and being an early critic of NCLB testing, tutoring, and transfer requirements, while noting “Chicago has never been a finalist for the Broad education prize for urban school reform.” Eduwonk is happy. Fred Klonsky’s not, but says “we could have done better and worse.” Edweek’s Campaign K-12 points out what was almost certainly be the Tuesday morning spin: He makes everybody in the ongoing fight for Obama’s educational soul reasonably happy
Duncan may also help the bridge the divide over education in the Democratic Party. He was the recommended choice for education secretary of Democrats for Education Reform and has won praise from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
It’s more like Waiting for Guffman.
Comment by Ms. Miller — December 15, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
I wonder if they handled this well by accident or on purpose. Scared the crap out of the unions by mentioning Klein. Scared the crap out of reformers by giving a job to LDH. Then name the guy in the middle you wanted all along, but instead of tepid reaction from both sides, huzzah!
If this was the result of political skill instead of luck, this is one hell of clever Administration to be….
Comment by Mike G — December 15, 2008 @ 11:47 pm