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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Keywords:
Monica Langley provides an excellent account of how U.S. Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, is using the $100 billion from the Stimulus funds in the 2009 Recovery Act to implement the Common Core education program in U.S. states and districts. Common Core is about raising student math and reading scores and standards, and implementing teacher evaluations based on test scores to make teachers accountable. This is the one significant area in which the Obama administraton in the U.S. is likely to leave a valuable legacy. Republicans in Tennessee, including Lamar Alexander, have embraced the program, showing how Duncan is using his persuasion skills to speed up the implementation across political party lines in a period of strong partisan feelings about programs. When governors have hesitated, Duncan has gone straight to the school districts using the funding. Teachers union say the program is moving too fast as evaluations would affect teacher careers, and Duncan agreed to a one year reprieve on the consequences of new teacher evaluations for states applying for an extension. This makes Duncan uncomfortable. He says he has only three and a half years left and he is going tooo slow. Business leaders such as P&G CEO, Robert McDonald, say the only political party they have is their educated workforce. Duncan has persuaded 40 states in the U.S. to sign up for higher standards in reading and math. Democrats see the Duncan initiative as helping poorer schools, which is also important to reduce the increasing inequality in the U.S. Since 2008 high school graduation rates increased by 3 percentage points, with a 5 point gain for black students and a 7 point gain for Hispanic students. After $4 billon in new funding to low performing schools, so called "dropout factories," the number of such schools has declined to 1424 from 1746. Teachers unions are only gradually adjusting to the need for accountability in math and reading scores. Duncan's father was a psychology professor at the University of Chicago, and Duncan grew up in Chicago neighborhoods before attending Harvard and playing for the basketball team. Duncan tutored younger school students in the afternoon at his mother's after school program in a black neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. In 2001 he was made the head of the Chicago public school system by Mayor Daley, where he took action to shut down poorly performing schools and reopening them with new staff. All the time he pushed for greater parental choice, charter schools, new teacher talent and using data to track school and student performance.
Common Core education program in the U.S.- Linking teacher reviews to student test results under new standards
03/11/2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan's efforts to implement Common Core in states and districts in the U.S. using $100 billion in Stimulus funds from the 2009 Recovery Act.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 08/18/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
âAn Industry of Mediocrityâ
New York Times 10/20/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Tackling middle class poverty in the U.S.- causes and strategies
03/11/2009
Shrinking incomes, low job growth, growth in temporary jobs, offshoring of jobs, are part of a trend since 1989. This is compounded by acceleration of developments during the last decade of low savings and paltry return on savings, effects on net worth of the financial crisis of 2008 through job losses, lost income, foreclosures, high cost of health care and college tution for children. The combination is creating a new kind of middle class poverty in the U.S. The Obama administration has pushed for college education even as it is becoming less affordable and neglected jobs training. The push to raise the minimum wage helps the poor but does not do as much for the middle class.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
8 States to Raise Minimum Wage
New York Times 12/23/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 02/10/2010
No Child Left Behind education program in the U.S.
01/07/2012
The U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act was renamed No Child Left Behind during the last Bush presidency. A reauthorization by Congress of this program was sought by Education Secretary Duncan in 2001. The Education Department added its own improvements.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
Escaping the constraints of ‘No Child Left Behind’ - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/07/2012
U.S. manufacturing and the Common Core program to raise student reading and math standards
07/22/2013
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 08/18/2013
Republicans See Political Wedge in Common Core
New York Times 04/19/2014
English Class in Common Core Era: ‘Tom Sawyer’ and Court Opinions
New York Times 06/19/2015
The Great Gift of Reading Aloud
Wall Street Journal 07/15/2015
Wall Street Journal 03/05/2016
Jerry Muller on Capitalism and Inequality- preserving economic dynamism and maintaining protections for the middle class and the poor
04/15/2009
Muller points out that the family really matters and belonging to particular social, immigrant, ethnic and religious groups also makes a difference. Muller says having a clear eyed view shows protections are necessary for capitalism to work, yet also points out that in advanced capitalist societies muc of the framework for the protections such as unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Earned Income Credit, Affordable Care Act, are already in place. Individual societies and countries have to come up with their own solutions for economic protections. At the same time economic dynamism is critical part of vibrant democracy and capitalism. This requires human capital to be deployed in the best way possible. For individual countries this means increasing and preserving competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Grouped Articles
New York Times 06/22/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 09/12/2013
Americaâs Sinking Middle Class
New York Times 09/18/2013
Germany's Social Democrats Agree to Coalition Talks With Merkel
Wall Street Journal 10/21/2013
The new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and his plans for improving U.S. education.
12/16/2008
Obama and Arne Duncan's plans for American education.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
Obama Outlines Plan for Education Overhaul
New York Times 03/11/2009
Education in the U.S. in 2010-2015
10/30/2008
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
Obama Outlines Plan for Education Overhaul
New York Times 03/11/2009
Jeb Bush's focus on declining social and education mobility in the the U.S. in his address to the 2013 CPAC conference
03/11/2009
Jeb Bush talks about the lower social and education mobility in the U.S. in 2013 compared to any time since the end of World War II.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
As Bush Settles Into Dallas, Golf Tees and Family Time Now Trump Politics
New York Times 11/02/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says
New York Times 01/23/2014
Math education in U.S. schools
11/29/2011
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
U.S. student performance slips on national test - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/28/2015
Wall Street Journal 03/05/2016
New Calculation: Math in Preschool
Wall Street Journal 11/29/2011
Krugman on student financial aid in the U.S. and the lack of education mobility for the middle class
01/28/2009
Grouped Articles
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Americaâs Sinking Middle Class
New York Times 09/18/2013
College Tuition Increases Slow, but Government Aid Falls
Wall Street Journal 10/23/2013
Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says
New York Times 01/23/2014
U.S. Stimulus spending and meeting long term sustainability goals and short term job goals.
12/24/2008
Reconciling short term job goals and longer term goals to build an America in which we live and work with sutainability in mind for a global economy/ and build education and infrastructure to compete in a global economy.
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New York Times 09/06/2011
Stimulus and the Depression: The Untold Story
Wall Street Journal 09/26/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 08/08/2010
Obama Calls for $50 Billion Public Works Plan
New York Times 09/06/2010
Obama's Infrastructure Plan: More Cash Could Hit the Road
BusinessWeek 09/08/2010
The second generation in American Hispanic families- higher educational levels and English skills
03/11/2009
Successful assimilation for the second generation in Hispanic families, similar to the levels achieved by earlier waves of immigrants to the U.S. from Italy. Only about a third of Italian children 14-18 were in school in 1910- yet over two generations Italian immigrants improved dramatically in education and English skills.
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America's Assimilating Hispanics
Wall Street Journal 06/17/2013
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Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
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Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
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States Take Lead in Boosting Immigrants
Wall Street Journal 01/22/2014
Stiglitz and Sen's report point to need for looking at multiple indicators of growth, including education, health care and environment.
12/30/2005
Be skeptical of touting GDP growth numbers. China which has done this has learnt from this experience as it shifts to trying to assess the costs of environmental degradation in headlong industrialization. The U.S. and the shift to bigger houses and bigger cars, which later fed a collapse of housing and the auto industry show a different angle of this obsession with GDP numbers that can work constructively or destructively if not understood and managed properly. Air quality and pollution is a major problem in China and affects the quality of life.
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Anger Spills Onto Brazil's Streets
Wall Street Journal 06/18/2013
Brazil's north-east: Catching up in a hurry
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Wall Street Journal 06/24/2013
Stimulus spending and other investments in education under the Obama administration.
01/22/2009
Large investments in education under the Obama administration.
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New York Times 09/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
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Cuts in U.S. education and teacher funding- 2010-2012
10/30/2008
Fixing budget deficits of states and local government in the U.S. in 2011-2012 is resulting in sharp cuts for schools. A class size of 60 in Detroit schools is one of the results of these cuts. One teacher calls it not educating children but supervising these children.
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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
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Young Latinos and Reading
12/04/2012
Young Hispanic children and the love of reading that broadens the mind and helps the imagination.
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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
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Silicon Valley and education standards in the U.S.- the Common Core program for higher student scores in math and reading
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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 08/18/2013
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Arne Duncan and the Education Department's plan to save $87 billion going to banks for subsidies to make student loans.
01/28/2009
Arne Duncan wants to use the funds to help low income students and community colleges.
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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
College Tuition Increases Slow, but Government Aid Falls
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Banks Don't Belong in the Student Loan Business
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For-Profit College Grads Also Earn a Life of Debt
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President Obama and Arne Duncan's community college intiative.
01/28/2009
Obama's proposal will invest $12 billion in savings from the federal education lending programs into community colleges. The idea is to expand graduation rates by about 5 million with certificate progras of 6months to ayear that would train people especially the jobless for new jobs in growing fields. Its crucial to meeting the growing mismatch between job requirements of jobs going unfilled and the qualifications of jobless people.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
Ending the ‘Race to the Bottom’
New York Times 03/12/2009
Big Gap in College Graduation Rates for Rich and Poor, Study Finds
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Obama Attacks on Economy and Seeks Billions for Community Colleges
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Bill Gates and Renewal in American Schools
03/11/2009
Efforts to improve education in U.S. schools by Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
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Fragility of social cohesion in the U.S. with unemployment concentrated in the lower middle and working classes.
03/11/2009
Figures from the Center of Labor Market Studies of Northeastern University in Boston showing unemployment of 9% in the $40,000 to $50,000 annual household income group and going up to 31% at the lowest income group. Higher inequality as differences in education between lower income and higher income Americans grows. The problem of the long term unemployed is a serious one.
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New York Times 06/22/2013
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Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Governor Jerry Brown's effort to revive California's higher education UC and Cal State systems as gateways to the middle class
03/11/2009
As part of this effort Brown makes half of the aid to universities contingent on a tution freeze, pushes for lower executive pay, more online courses, and faculty teaching more undergraduate classes. Under his father Governor Edmund Brown, the state's higher education system functioned in the 1960's and subsequent decades as a gateway to the U.S. middle class, and a beacon for other American states.
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California’s New Problem: Too Much Money
New York Times 05/25/2013
Brown Set for Victory in California Budget Fight
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U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
Brown Cheered in Second Act, at Least So Far
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New York Times 08/17/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Poverty among white Americans in 2010-2015
03/11/2009
A previous generation could count on good jobs in manufacturing with only a high school education. The last two decades of globalization have hit manufacturing jobs and wages in the U.S. hard and the impact is greatest on people without a college education. Other problems aggravating income and causing poverty is the increase of dropout rates from the labor force of young white American men, the effects of drug use and the lack of stable marraiges. This creates an underclass of whites in America, similiar to the underclass among minorities.
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Racial Wealth Gap Widened During Recession
New York Times 04/28/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
New York Times 06/22/2013
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Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 02/10/2010
Renewal of public school education in the U.S.
02/20/2009
Teachers, Teachers, Teachers- make all the difference starting early from kindergarden.
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
Economist 02/20/2009
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
Obama Outlines Plan for Education Overhaul
New York Times 03/11/2009
Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/17/2015
U.S. educational system.
10/30/2008
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
Arne Duncan: Better education starts with honesty about achievement gaps - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/24/2014
Obama Outlines Plan for Education Overhaul
New York Times 03/11/2009
Student debt at $1 trillion in 2011 - a macroeconomic factor which determines consumer spending and buying of new homes
03/11/2009
Student debt in 2011 was 5 times the level in 2000. This happens as education and technical skills are increasing in importance in determining wages and benefits, higher education in increasingly becoming unaffordable, and government help is declining because of budget cutbacks. This is affecting the image of the U.S. as a nation of opportunity.
Grouped Articles
High student debt is dragging down the U.S. economy | Wonkblog
Washington Post 04/18/2013
Student Loan Debt Is a Drag on the Economy, Too
New York Times 05/10/2013
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
College Tuition Increases Slow, but Government Aid Falls
Wall Street Journal 10/23/2013
Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says
New York Times 01/23/2014
Friedman on Obama's Race to the Top education initiative and the effort to increase fuel efficiency for automobiles
10/20/2012
Grouped Articles
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
U.S. Remaining Stake in General Motors
Wall Street Journal 12/10/2013
New York Times 01/18/2014
New York Times 10/20/2012
The Price of a Black President
New York Times 10/27/2012
In Ohio, 2 Campaigns Offer a Study in Contrasts
New York Times 11/03/2012
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