I spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and this is a tough thing to say, but let me be really honest. I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina. That education system was a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to say that 'we have to do better.' And the progress that they've made in four years since the hurricane is unbelievable. They have a chance to create a phenomenal school district. Long way to go, but that -- that city was not serious about its education. Those children were being desperately underserved prior, and the amount of progress and the amount of reform we've seen in a short amount of time has been absolutely amazing.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
If a Bush Administration Official Said This. . .
Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan quoted in the Washington Post:
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2 comments:
Hmmm.
Disregard the "if Bush had said this" part. She's right - it's almost always easier to start from scratch than to convince people to fix what they have. (of course, that assumes that there's a pocketbook out there that will pay for the rebuild) That's the lesson to be learned - not that the destruction was a good thing. How many people would choose to tear down an old termite ridden home instead of replacing this part and that part? Tearing down and rebuilding is hard on people, but if what you get is considerably better, maybe it's something to be considered. Assuming you can afford it, of course.
Now...how does that philosophy affect all the efforts to "fix" the health care system??
I agree. I'm glad she said it, even if a Republican would be eviscerated for making the same observation.
Reality is hard, and we should be encouraged when politicians recognise that.
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