Duncan Signals a More Activist Role in Destroying Teaching Profession

Since Team Obama came to Washington, ED has doubled down on support for alternative certification programs by handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to stock urban schools with unprepared beginning teachers who don't know John Dewey from Thomas Dewey, or an IEP from IED.  In fact, the less knowledge in the art and science of teaching that one of these Teach for America knock-offs emphasizes, the more likely they are to attract multi-million dollar teacher improvement grants.  TFA, alone, has received over $100 million in federal grants.

Obviously, this path has not led quickly enough to the thorough deprofessionalization and dumbing down of teaching to a state of utter disrepair and ignorance.  To remedy that, Team Obama has just announced plans to move more aggressively to destroy any vestigial signs of educational theory, history, or contextual understanding from teacher preparation programs.  In order to make the hundred year old policy of cram down racist testing seem plausible for another generation, it is necessary that new teachers know nothing of the long inglorious road to the thorough labeling, sorting, and segregating based on tests designed to do just that.

. . . .Duncan said one major problem is that teachers have too much education in history and theory, and not enough practical, hands-on experience.
 “Every school I go to, when I ask teachers if they were prepared, there’s a fair amount of nervous laughter,” he said.

 Duncan continued to say that teachers also don’t have the necessary experience with technology that’s used in the classroom.

 “At the heart of the agenda has been placing a great teacher in every classroom,” said Muñoz. “Teachers matter and a great teacher makes all the difference.”

Nervous laughter, I guess, is better than throwing up or crying.  Who could ever be prepared for the hell that Bush-Obama education policies have created for those charged with teaching our children?  

One thing that seems unchanging in the coming years is the violable and audacious lie about how much difference a teacher can make.