A Politically Correct Pick and Roll
In today’s Washington Post, there is an article about Obama’s pick for education secretary, Arne Duncan. Duncan has been chief executive of Chicago’s public schools since 2001.
I think that maybe political correctness crept into this pick. Obama didn’t really have any athletes in his cabinet, and Duncan was co-captain of his college basketball team and played professionally in Australia. So it is kind of refreshing to get a little brawn instead of the Ivy League propeller heads that will be commonplace in Obama’s Cabinet Room. Oh, wait, never mind. I see that Duncan’s college was Harvard University. The pick is a two-fer.
I think Obama will be lacing up the Chuck Taylors and maybe he and Arne - who have been long time basketball partners - will go looking for a little 2-on-2 action. For some reason, Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes come to mind.
Barry and Arne?
Speaking of Chuck Taylors, have you seen the cost of a pair? I know people who bought houses (now in foreclosure, by the way) for less money down.
As I read the article, I came across this
Duncan is embraced by the teachers unions, who have been concerned about high-stakes testing and worry about merit pay being tied to test scores, as well as reformers, who favor charter schools and tougher standards.
I cracked up reading this. The teachers unions are concerned about testing and merit pay based on test scores. Quel Horror! This underscores what is wrong with so much about governments and bureaucracies. We measure, and hence reward, the wrong things. What would be a better measure of teacher effectiveness? Apples received? I can’t help thinking that the teachers unions - and the Democrats - are more concerned about teacher pay and administrator/teacher ratios than they are about actual education of our young people.
And the sad thing is that the conventional wisdom is that Democrats are the party that emphasizes education. Of children. R-i-g-h-t. And I never should have given Petra Nemcova those necklaces. She totally got the wrong impression. I have to keep asking her to stop calling. Things just aren’t going to work out…
Please, Stop Calling Petra!