Bird Droppings June 24 and 25, 2026

The head of education in the US should not be an idiot.

It was nearly twenty years ago that I was reading an article, actually an interview with Arne Duncan, the former Secretary of Education. I selected a few choice quotes from his interview to savor and ponder for a few days. As I look at his words and actions, we can see where he really thinks education should be. I have long argued that sports should not be the number one priority in high school and college, but who am I to challenge the status quo? Football ticket sales and all the hoopla surrounding sports are big money. With Duncan’s more recent emphasis on a push toward private industry in public education, I found his words a bit confusing. At first, I truly liked this statement, and yet since these words were let loose, he has gone 360 degrees in the opposite direction and, in action, supports making money. I am now faced with a new Secretary of Education who I can honestly say is also a much bigger idiot. Perhaps one thought from Betsy DeVos that stuck with me before getting serious.

“I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the schools to protect from potential grizzlies.”  Betsy DeVos, January 2017: confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. Sen. Chris Murphy asked whether she would agree that guns don’t belong in schools. She was addressing a school in Wyoming.

But the true heroes for today are former Secretary Arne DuncanandLinda E. McMahon. Who is our current Secretary of Education, who is trying to put herself out of a job by dismantling the Department of Education? I find it so confusing as to why we put idiots, both Democrats and Republicans, in this crucial job.

“If a university can’t have two out of five of their student-athletes graduate, I don’t know why they’re rewarded with post-season play,” Arne Duncan

Over the past few days, I have been looking at how I see teaching and instruction, and I have wandered about a bit in my efforts. My own style is somewhat radical to say the least. However, in my sixteen years in public education, my craziness has worked with kids who are not supposed to graduate or succeed, according to most. I happened to see this line from Arne Duncan, our former Secretary of Education, and it is amazing how we provide a sense of falsehood through athletics. I am not saying all athletes are poor students by any means. I know many who are honor graduates and scholars.

The greed and competition, however, become significant at the college level. A local college’s home games can bring millions to the local economy. Many staunch fans never went to college anywhere yet have season tickets and trucks painted in that school’s colors, and even have the same animal as their pet, the local mascot. A good college football or basketball program is a business, not a learning program.

“I think we are lying to children and families when we tell children that they are meeting standards and, in fact, they are woefully unprepared to be successful in high school and have almost no chance of going to a good university and being successful.’ Arne Duncan

Not every child should go to college. Why we have to advertise and promote this concept, I honestly do not know—in a past-life faculty meeting, our superintendent discussed the excessively high dropout rate among first-year students. When you have an attitude of sending everyone to college, those who really do not want to be there quit that first year. We have eliminated technical training in many high schools in favor of the idea that everyone goes to college. This trend also ties in with our role in international education. We constantly hear on the news that we are behind in education and in other international programs and countries. Let me start with one of the measures: the PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment. In 2006, we, the USA, were ranked fifteenth.

I have never heard of or seen this test administered in Georgia. It is a two-hour test, multiple-choice and essay. It is given every three years to rank countries internationally. Australia is ranked fourth. There are differences between them and us, and significant differences. It was 1992 before Australia began including disabled students in public schools, compared to 1974 in the US. However, there is still a distinct difference between the US and literally most of the world in terms of education. Our test scores, for example, as per NCLB include Students with Disabilities SWD as a subgroup, and they are included in the final tally of the population. A 2% allowance is made for Mentally Impaired students in the total population. Australia, in scoring on High School tests, etc., does not include SWD in the totals, as European and Asian Schools do not either. Most international school systems have a mandatory age cut-off of 15-17, depending on the territory; for example, in Australia. At that point, choices are made and/or mandated regarding higher education, technical or college education, and/or going to work. Throughout Asia, this is common practice as it is in many European educational systems.

“If you have great assessments and real-time data for teachers and parents that say these are [the student’s] strengths and weaknesses, that’s a real healthy thing.” Arne Duncan

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” We would do away with examinations. They measure inconsequential learning. We would do away with grades and credits for the same reason. We would do away with degrees as a measure of competence, for the same reason in part. Another reason is that a degree marks the end or a conclusion of something, and the learner is only interested in continuing the process of learning.” Carl Rodgers

In the words of the head of education and a leader in psychology in his time, there are totally differing views. I agree with several of my friends that, on some concepts, Carl Rogers can be a bit off the deep end. But on this aspect, I agree with him that competition, as far as learning goes, be that grades and test scores, can be inconsequential as to whether any learning has occurred. This would lead to another line from David Purpel yesterday that truly hit me hard.

“Schools have been captured by the concept of accountability, which has been transformed from a notion that schools need to be responsive and responsible to community concerns to one in which numbers are used to demonstrate that schools have met their minimal requirement.” David Purpel, 1989, Department of Curriculum and Educational Foundations, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

We have stripped that aspect of community from schools to have a clear, definite number to score and equate with whatever we want to measure in theory. One of the first things I learned in statistics is that they are at the mercy of the statistician. We can make numbers do whatever we want. Politicians like numbers, test scores, and simple things so they can make policy and award lobbyists with nice contracts. Interesting how most educational research cited by the National Clearing House for research-based materials is primarily from publishing and testing companies. Much of this is very limited in its demographics and, in a true research setting, would not be valid. Significant dollars are involved, but that might be for another discussion, which sort of ties in with my idea of: is there ethical capitalism? Sadly, industrial mentalities and capitalism drive education in the US. Mass production testing and textbook companies’ rules, along with various support industries.

“I know there are schools that are beating the odds where students are getting better every year, and they are labeled failures, and that can be discouraging and demoralizing,” Arne Duncan

I continue to try to understand how students who are doing better year after year are considered a failure. As for US schools being behind, are they really? NCLB mandates that all US schools in all states have an exit exam that meets certain parameters for graduation; if it is not passed, the student does not receive a high school diploma. This consists of Writing, Math, Social Studies, and Science portions in the state of Georgia. Many subjects have End-of-Course Tests again here in Georgia. Even with this series of tests at our high school, we have managed to raise the graduation rate from 71% to 92% over five years. Sadly, this comes at the expense of real learning, and the idea of teaching to the test is more than a catch phrase. Teachers’ jobs and administrators’ jobs are tied to test scores, funding, and state and federal intervention as well. I am not happy with the USA educational system, as I am a supporter of students and learning, which are being totally left behind in this numerically accountable, competitive system.

“We are proceeding with the intent of the Landmark – Leave No Child Behind Reform Act without political persuasion. The focus is effective delivery of services in education by review, restructure, and implementation for maximum student learning.” Arne Duncan

Arne perhaps used some words incorrectly here. It should have been read for maximum students’ success in testing, not in learning. I have taught in different parts of Georgia and briefly in PA. While many will say education is not as difficult as it was in previous generations, all I can say is, pull a high school or college biology book off the shelf, dust it off, and compare it to one today. The cellular material is years beyond my first college years, and even the zoology and botany books from 1968 and 1969. Not just the research gains, but the vocabulary and demands of the material are voluminous compared to what we had in high school. Our system is flawed, and it will take radical thinking to fix it. I tend to believe more toward Foxfire core practices, John Dewey’s ideas, and Carl Rogers.

“Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person’s ideas, and none of my own ideas, are as authoritative as my experience. It is to experience that I must return again and again, to discover a closer approximation to truth as it is in the process of becoming in me. Neither the Bible nor the prophets — neither Freud nor research –neither the revelations of God nor man — can take precedence over my own direct experience. My experience is not authoritative because it is infallible. It is the basis of authority because it can always be checked in new primary ways. In this way, its frequent error or fallibility is always open to correction.” Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person, 1961

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.” Carl Rogers

As I close, looking back on where and when and how, I am still within my own learning, searching for what my pedagogy is. It is a continual, fluid process of teaching and learning each day. I can say I am inclined to think this way, but only till a better way comes along. With the morning nearing its end and a new week ahead, please keep all in harm’s way on your minds and in your heart, and always give thanks. Namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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