Arne Duncan Must Go!
The controversial and damaginging tenure of Arne Duncan as Scretary of Education must come to an end.
Dear President Obama, House and Senate Members,
We the undersigned are demanding the immediate dismissal of Arne Duncan from his position as Secretary of Education. It is important that you act swiftly before he can inflict any additional harm to the public school system or further demoralize the nearly three million public school teachers that have devoted their careers to the parents, students, and communities that they serve.
Our case for immediate dismissal rests on five key points:
1) Arne Duncan is unqualified to be a public school teacher. And of course he has not spent one minute of time teaching children. This simple fact should have disqualified him from consideration for this cabinet position.
2) Arne Duncan has been a shameless promoter of charter schools and the privatization of America?s public school system. As public policy, this is irresponsible. His comments and actions certainly call into question Mr. Duncan?s integrity as a member of the President?s cabinet.
3) Arne Duncan has publicly expressed contempt for public schools, teachers, students and their parents. He has openly supported the Vergara decision, railing against the importance of teacher due process rights. Secretary Duncan?s positions regarding the very system and people he serves, represents the antithesis of leadership.
4) Arne Duncan has colluded with Bill Gates to extort virtually every state in the country to commit to the implementation of the de-facto set of national standards known as the Common Core. Untested and unproven, these standards and the required high stakes companion tests are being used to surreptitiously discredit and dismantle the public school system in this country, opening the door for privatization. These unproven tests are also being used to unfairly threaten the reputations and careers of public school teachers. The use of punitive measures to coerce performance from teachers and students alike is a failed idea and counterproductive to authentic learning. Mr. Duncan?s refusal to listen to the pleas of concerned parents, teachers, and other experts in the field further demonstrates that he has an agenda that is far removed from improving instruction and student achievement. The data driven, high stakes testing of America?s children amounts to nothing short of educational malpractice. Arne Duncan bears the brunt of the responsibility for this shameless attempt to destroy the public school system, the careers of teachers; to purposefully wreck one of the true cornerstones of a free and democratic America.
5) Secretary Duncan?s actions regarding the forced implementation Common Core literally define the concept of federal overreach. Under Mr. Duncan?s direction, the USDOE has funded two national consortia (PARCC and SBAC) in order to develop Common Core-based tests. In their federal funding applications, the consortia pledged to use part of the money to develop curricular materials in direct contravention of federal law.
We the undersigned are demanding the immediate dismissal of Arne Duncan from his position as Secretary of Education. It is important that you act swiftly before he can inflict any additional harm to the public school system or further demoralize the nearly three million public school teachers that have devoted their careers to the parents, students, and communities that they serve.
Our case for immediate dismissal rests on five key points:
1) Arne Duncan is unqualified to be a public school teacher. And of course he has not spent one minute of time teaching children. This simple fact should have disqualified him from consideration for this cabinet position.
2) Arne Duncan has been a shameless promoter of charter schools and the privatization of America?s public school system. As public policy, this is irresponsible. His comments and actions certainly call into question Mr. Duncan?s integrity as a member of the President?s cabinet.
3) Arne Duncan has publicly expressed contempt for public schools, teachers, students and their parents. He has openly supported the Vergara decision, railing against the importance of teacher due process rights. Secretary Duncan?s positions regarding the very system and people he serves, represents the antithesis of leadership.
4) Arne Duncan has colluded with Bill Gates to extort virtually every state in the country to commit to the implementation of the de-facto set of national standards known as the Common Core. Untested and unproven, these standards and the required high stakes companion tests are being used to surreptitiously discredit and dismantle the public school system in this country, opening the door for privatization. These unproven tests are also being used to unfairly threaten the reputations and careers of public school teachers. The use of punitive measures to coerce performance from teachers and students alike is a failed idea and counterproductive to authentic learning. Mr. Duncan?s refusal to listen to the pleas of concerned parents, teachers, and other experts in the field further demonstrates that he has an agenda that is far removed from improving instruction and student achievement. The data driven, high stakes testing of America?s children amounts to nothing short of educational malpractice. Arne Duncan bears the brunt of the responsibility for this shameless attempt to destroy the public school system, the careers of teachers; to purposefully wreck one of the true cornerstones of a free and democratic America.
5) Secretary Duncan?s actions regarding the forced implementation Common Core literally define the concept of federal overreach. Under Mr. Duncan?s direction, the USDOE has funded two national consortia (PARCC and SBAC) in order to develop Common Core-based tests. In their federal funding applications, the consortia pledged to use part of the money to develop curricular materials in direct contravention of federal law.
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