Teacher activists don't want Klein, Duncan

A coalition of activist teachers has made it clear that they want neither New York Chancellor Joel Klein nor Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan to be appointed to the Secretary of Education post. Teacher Activist Groups (TAG) is circulating a petition to build opposition to both short-listed candidates.

TAG, has this to say:

We wish to turn away from a corporate model of education that claims that teaching and learning can only improve by imposing market perspectives and processes onto our public education system. Education should be a fundamental human right, not subject to privatization by firms whose primary concern is a profit motive and the bottom line. We have all witnessed the failures of this free market system in recent months and do not support this model for our public schools.

Chicago's PURE is on board:

PURE’s vision for education is to reject the push to remake our schools in the image of business, and stop promoting “competition” as the answer to underperforming schools. We hope our nation will return to an approach that addresses the whole child and focuses on preparing him or her to be a happy, contributing citizen. This is the change that parents want.

TAG, and many progressive educators seem to be favoring Obama's top education advisor, Linda Darling-Hammond. But the very thought of LDH as Sec. of Education has sent hedge-fund school reformers DFER and conservatives from Center on Education Reform into a tizzy, writes Russo. The Fordham Foundation's Liam Julian sounds like he will stroke out should LDG get the job.

I could say something not very nice right now...