Is Arne Duncan Bringing Free Market Principles to Public Ed?

By Robyn Bagley, Board Chair, Parents for Choice in Education

I received the U.S. Department of Education's CharterEd Notepad newsletter and found myself rubbing my eyes to make sure the press release posted within it was not a figment of my imagination. It was referencing a plan to turn around the nation's lowest achieving schools. ...

I saw words and phrases like transformational changes; have the courage; do right by our kids; unions and the business community can come together; competed. What! A derivative of the word competition in a plan for public education? ... They were suggesting public education actually do things that quite frankly have long since been regarded as "fightin' words" for Democrats and educrats alike. I pinched myself just to check. ...

I read on. It appeared Mr. Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, was describing elements of what I fondly refer to as Empowerment Schools. But how could this be? ...