Arne Duncan Reacts to the Citizen's Briefing Book

[planetjordan]

I am a certified physics / chemistry teacher and have started an energy / conservation business that should create jobs and hopes to be a working model for "National Sustainable Policy". On a practical level, we do energy audits and upgrades. I like what I've heard from Sec. elect Duncan and President elect Obama, and would like to help implement this type of sustainable education and infrastructure on the state, regional and national level. We'll keep going. It'd be better large scale. Peace,

[jenshoe]

The education field has lost many EXCELLENT teachers due to the lack of pay compared to other fields. We are also losing many EXCELLENT teachers because teachers are getting burned out with all the demands of NCLB. Schools that are succeeding have the outside support of the community along with the education system. Educating our children is all of our responsibilities and not just the schools.

[jeanjadespring]

the country needs definitively new lamps, what i see in these propaganda films is deplorable, looks like ages ago styles. new lamps!

[todnyc]

stay in Barbados, ho!

[tklelmo21]

Plain and simple higher salary and great expectations from teachers will simply do the trick. Teachers have to remember y they are there and if they can't get kids to pass thier clases they don't have a job, we need new ways to challenge the minds of our youth. Children who are 3 and 4 know 10xs the information as i did when i was younger but out education system is still teaching that curriculum of 10 years ago..shame bush left all the children behind..

[Blackhalo325]

The federally funded education system is a disaster and is then dressed up so we the people will think it's doing something while the rest of the world is advancing by leaps and bounds.

[EyeLean5280]

Well, not really. Other advanced economies (Britain and Japan for example) are having the same problems we are. (In the case of Japan, the problem is hidden by the fact that the weakest students are told to stay home on national test days.)

Yes, our education system needs to make a lot of changes, but it's not just the system. It's also the other two sides of the education triangle - the parents and the students.

[Blackhalo325]

Asking the federal government to fix a problem that it created is not the right way. It's just going to be more paperwork, promises, and money thrown at the problem.

[EnviroMonster]

It's all about the kids.

[voyeurdug]

The military's paradigm of how to teach ~virtually~ anything can be applied to almost any teaching/learning environment past primary education, and should be used variously:

1. Military members can be taught to teach, as a vocational rehab process, as they look forward to exiting the military, as in retirement,

2. ... or as in the last stage of medical/physical/psychological rehab from combat injuries that disable them for military service.

3. The "new 21st-Century" jobs will require OJT.

[EyeLean5280]

Sorry voyeurdug, I wholeheartedly disagree.

The military is full of people who have signed up for the military. In other words, you have a self-selected group of people whose personalities fit in with military culture and can thrive on military-style training.

It simply won't work for the population at large.

[makilgore06]

Awesome! If any of these measures about future teachers become reality, I will switch my major to education and get my master cert in education. If and only if...

[BrookerStooker]

Thx for the 'Click to download' option, Mr. President and staff,

It's a great idea of sharing,

<3

[EvilchurchdOc]

Stop ignoring the Marijuana question it is consistently the number 1 topic in all of your questioning sessions and now in the briefing book.

[akasaart]

in the end legalization of all drugs is truly the only logical answer to the prohibition issue, but you must keep in mind the extreme sensitivity of this issue in the rhetoric-crammed political circles

before Obama can even hope to even start touching on this delicate matter, he will have to gain a lot of credibility on capital hill

it's a massive change that must be made, but making Washington see it is a very tricky endeavor

[EyeLean5280]

Legalization is like opening up relations with Communist China - it's something only a conservative president could get away with.

[akasaart]

the inability to "get away with" it is merely an delusion of the political players

if a politician were to use their power to enact legalization, they would be met with much resistance and criticism during the shift

shortly thereafter however, the virtues of legalization would become blatantly obvious to the whole world

so basically, the irony of politicians' fear of legalization is in the fact that it would actually boost their careers through it's great success

[Flanole]

The weakest part of Obama's "change" program is education policy. Charter schools and vouchers are code for undermine public schools. Just because you have talent in a field does not mean you have the skill to teach it. No Child Left Behind has only added paperwork to over burdened teachers and not helped meeting the needs of educating students. Just because someone sat in a classroom does not give them the ability to teach. We increase teacher paperwork and cut budgets--dropouts increase. ETC.

[gryphonshire]

We need to Teach Civics in Junior High. Kids need to grow up knowing our Government is OF the People and BY the People, not just For the people....

[MadDonkeyProduction]

First!!!!