This is what happens when the U.S. Sec. of Educ doesn't know anything about teaching, public schools, or education...

Comments in red are quoted (or paraphrased) from Susan Ohanian.

KUSA-TV

US schools chief says kids need more class time

By Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) -- American school children need to be in school more -- way more -- if the nation is to compete with students abroad, the nation's top educator said Tuesday.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said American schools should be open six days a week, at least 11 months a year, to improve student performance.

"Go ahead and boo me," Duncan told about 400 middle and high school students at a public school in northeast Denver. "I fundamentally think that our school day is too short, our school week is too short and our school year is too short."

NOTE: Finnish children, who score at the top on international tests, remain in a true kindergarten situation, with play being the focus of their day, until age seven. Then, they don't have long school days. Many days end by one o'clock. School lessons are broken up by lengthy recess periods of play every hour. Finnish students take off ten weeks in the summer. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Finnish pupils spend an OECD record low total of some 5,523 hours at their desks, compared to the average of 6,847 hours.

RESEARCH: Physical Activity May Strengthen Children's Ability to Pay Attention. Science Daily (April 1, 2009)

Alliance for Childhood. Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School (March 20, 2009)

"You're competing for jobs with kids from India and China," said Duncan.

India and China make no attempt to educate ALL their children. Duncan ignores the fact that many US jobs are disappearing, not because we haven't educated our youth for them but because corporate greed outsources them. IBM workers were told they could keep their jobs--if they moved to India and accepted Indian wages.

I think schools should be open six, seven days a week; eleven, twelve months a year," Duncan said.

U. S. workers are the most productive in the world--and work the longest hours. . . does the Obama administration wants to put children on this same frenetic pace?

Instead of boos, Duncan's remark got an unsurprising response from the teenage assembly -- bored stares. But the former Chicago schools superintendent went on to talk about school reforms he believes are coming from the Obama administration.

Duncan praised Denver schools for allowing schools to apply for almost complete autonomy -- which allows them to waive union contracts so teachers can stay for after-school tutoring or Saturday school.

Teaching is reduced to on-call script-reading, a test prep occupation for those willing to give up any semblance of professionalism. Of course, if you're reading scripts, you won't have to go home and prepare lessons.

Duncan also applauded Denver's pay-for-performace teacher pay system, a scheme that some Democrats and teachers' groups oppose. In visits to two schools Tuesday, Duncan quizzed school administrators about Denver's reforms, including the pay system, longer hours and waiving tenure rights for new hires.

Pay-for-performance relies on student scores on standardized tests.

None of the people promoting Pay-for-Performance has ever studied the actual items on standardized tests. . . or admitted that Pay-for-Performance promotes endless test prep for children in poverty. The very children who need a rich curriculum the most won't get it.

As George Madaus, Michael Russell, and Jennifer Higgins observe in The Paradoxes of High Stakes Testing, "As a nation, we spend more than $1 billion a year on federally mandated educational tests that 30 million students must take each year. The country spends an additional $1.2 billion on test preparation materials designed to help students pass these tests." Isn't it past time to hold the testing industry accountable for their product--instead of searching for ways to give these tests even greater importance over the lives of teachers and students?

"Talent matters tremendously. ... It's important that great teachers get paid more," Duncan said.

Who is going to define who's "great?" Testing manufacturer McGraw-Hill?

Duncan visited at the invitation of Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who was Denver's schools superintendent from 2005 until his appointment to the Senate this year. The city's pay-for-performance plan was one of Bennet's chief accomplishments while in charge of the 75,000-student system.

The old saw used to be "Anybody who's been to public school feels qualified as an expert on how they should be run." Now such attendance isn't required. This fellow, a corporate turnaround expert, is the product of private schools all the way. Bennet was a featured speaker at the recent Al Sharpton/NY schools chancellor Joel Klein notorious National Action Network Convention.

A couple of years ago, Bennet's pay-for-performance plan received a $22 million boodle from the Bush's U.S. Department of Education, a funding grease-the-wheels package to increase test score hysteria, further encroaching on the professional integrity of educators.

Similarly, Duncan hasn't shied away from challenging Democratic positions on education since joining Obama's cabinet.

Last month, he said that poor children getting vouchers to attend private schools in the District of Columbia should be allowed to stay there, putting the Obama administration at odds with Democrats trying to end the program. Duncan talked up school choice during his Denver visit, though he didn't mention vouchers or elaborate whether he meant private schools, too.

Poor children don't need vouchers. They need a family with an adequate income. They need adequate food, housing and health care.

"I'm a big believer that students and parents should have a choice what school they want to go to," Duncan said.

Bennet, greeted by hugs from teachers lining the hallways of the two schools, sided with Duncan. Bennet told reporters he wanted to help steer any education reform proposals from the White House through the Senate.

"A change needs to come, especially in urban school districts, and it's not going to be easy," Bennet said.

He added, "I will do absolutely everything to get myself in the middle of that conversation."

Colorado, along with other states, is prepping to apply for some $5 billion worth of federal education grants coming through the economic stimulus package. Duncan said details of how that money will be awarded haven't been decided.

Already, the federal Department of Education has released $44 billion to the states for education. According to Colorado estimates, the state is due about $487 million for K-12 education. The principal at the high school Duncan visited announced to the students and teachers that the school has already received its portion, about $200,000.

"It's here!" principal Kristin Waters cried, to cheers from the staff.

Why is it that so few people are speaking out against Duncan and the Obama administration's continued assault on public education. Perhaps it's because, with all the money being poured into the U. S. Department of Education, people don't want to hurt their chances of getting their share.

— Kristen Wyatt
Associated Press
2009-04-08
http://www.9news.com/includes/tools/print.aspx?storyid=113300

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