Obama and the Future of American Education
Make no mistake: the election of Barack Obama is a glorious day for the United States. When Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy were killed in 1968, I despaired about the future of this country. And, as it turned out, I was pretty much right: Reagan, Bush I, and the coup de grace Bush II have looted and pillaged this country in the name of the wealthy and powerful and left the country in shambles. But I have hope again.
Barack Obama was not the strongest anti-NCLB candidate. That honor went to Bill Richardson, with Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards running a close second.
But he has said a lot of good things, and the most important development has been his use of Linda Darling-Hammond as a chief adviser on education for his campaign.
Now, according to a number of sources, including Time and EdWeek, Darling-Hammond is on the not-so-short list of possible Secretaries of Education. If it should come to pass, I can think of no stronger candidate. An outspoken critic of NCLB, she would begin the dismantling of the Bush-Spellings setbacks and the restoration of sane and effective policies of teaching, funding, and evaluation.
She has written “…fixing No Child Left Behind will require a new approach to measuring and supporting school success.” And NCLB, with its return to 19th century views of education and pedagogy, is as far from a new approach as one can get. I urge President-elect Obama (how wonderful that phrase sounds!) to appoint Linda Darling-Hammond to be his Secretary of Education.