Obama's "Way to go, Brownie!" Moment?

I've already said to a few people, but not on here yet, that I disagree with Obama choosing Hilary over Bill Richardson for Sec. of State. Oh well...moving on. I'm not qualified enough to make any serious comments about that. I do, however, think I can give my opinion about his choice (and back-up choice) for Sec. of Education, if only because it affects the field I am going to be working in. The following is being passed around the blogosphere and I felt it was worth reposting myself. I will continue to look into and keep up with story as more information comes even if I don't post it here. I ask that you do the same whether you agree with this post or not. Without further ado:

By Greg Palast
for the Huffington Post

Has Barack Obama forgotten, "Way-to-go, Brownie"? Michael Brown was that guy from the Arabian Horse Association appointed by George Bush to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Brownie, not knowing the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain from the south end of a horse, let New Orleans drown. Bush's response was to give his buddy Brownie a "way to go!" thumbs up.

We thought Obama would go a very different way. You'd think the studious Senator from Illinois would avoid repeating the Bush regime's horror show of unqualified appointments, of picking politicos over professionals.

But here we go again. Trial balloons lofted in the Washington Post suggest President-elect Obama is about to select Joel Klein as Secretary of Education. If not Klein, then draft-choice number two is Arne Duncan, Obama's backyard basketball buddy in Chicago.

Say it ain't so, President O.

Let's begin with Joel Klein. Klein is a top notch anti-trust lawyer. What he isn't is an educator. Klein is as qualified to run the Department of Education as Dick Cheney is to dance in Swan Lake. While I've never seen Cheney in a tutu, I have seen Klein fumble about the stage as Chancellor of the New York City school system.

Klein, who lacks even six minutes experience in the field, was handed management of New York's schools by that political Jack-in-the-Box, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire mayor is one of those businessmen-turned-politicians who think lawyers and speculators can make school districts operate like businesses.

Klein has indeed run city schools like a business - if the business is General Motors. Klein has flopped. Half the city's kids don't graduate.

Klein is out of control. Not knowing a damn thing about education, rather than rely on those who actually work in the field (only two of his two dozen deputies have degrees in education), Klein pays high-priced consultants to tell him what to do. He's blown a third of a billion dollars on consultant "accountability" projects plus $80 million for an IBM computer data storage system that doesn't work.

What the heck was the $80 million junk computer software for? Testing. Klein is test crazy. He has swallowed hook, line and sinker George Bush's idea that testing students can replace teaching them. The madly expensive testing program and consultant-fee spree are paid for by yanking teachers from the classroom.

Ironically, though not surprisingly, test scores under Klein have flat-lined. Scores would have fallen lower, notes author Jane Hirschmann, but Klein "moved the cut line," that is, lowered the level required to pass. In other words, Klein cheats on the tests.

Nevertheless, media poobahs have fallen in love with Klein, especially Republican pundits. The New York Times' David Brooks is championing Klein, hoping that media hype for Klein will push Obama to keep Bush schools policies in place, trumping the electorate's choice for change.

Brooks and other Republicans (hey, didn't those guys lose?) are pushing Klein as a way for Obama to prove he can reach across the aisle to Republicans like Bloomberg. (Oh yes, Bloomberg's no longer in the GOP, having jumped from the party this year when the brand name went sour.)

Choosing Klein, says Brooks, would display Obama's independence from the teacher's union. But after years of Bush kicking teachers in the teeth, appointing a Bush acolyte like Klein would not indicate independence from teachers but their betrayal.

Hoops versus Hope

The anti-union establishment has a second stringer on the bench waiting in case Klein is nixed: Arne Duncan. Duncan, another lawyer playing at education, was appointed by Chicago's Boss Daley to head that city's train-wreck of a school system. Think of Duncan as "Klein Lite."

What's Duncan's connection to the President-elect? Duncan was once captain of Harvard's basketball team and still plays backyard round-ball with his Hyde Park neighbor Obama.

But Michelle has put a limit on their friendship: Obama was one of the only state senators from Chicago to refuse to send his children into Duncan's public schools. My information is that the Obamas sent their daughters to the elite Laboratory School where Klein-Duncan teach-to-the-test pedagogy is dismissed as damaging and nutty.

Mr. Obama, if you can't trust your kids to Arne Duncan, why hand him ours?

Lawyer Duncan is proud to have raised test scores by firing every teacher in low-scoring schools. Which schools? There's Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto with children from homeless shelters and drug-poisoned 'hoods. They don't do well on tests. So Chicago fired all the teachers. They brought in new ones - then fired all of them too: the teachers' reward for volunteering to work in a poor neighborhood.

It's no coincidence that the nation's worst school systems are run by non-experts like Klein and Duncan.

Obama certainly knows this. I know he knows because he's chosen, as head of his Education Department transition team, one of the most highly respected educators in the United States: Professor Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University.

So here we have the ludicrous scene of the President-elect asking this recognized authority, Dr. Darling-Hammond, to vet the qualifications of amateurs Klein and Duncan. It's as if Obama were to ask Michael Jordan, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who can play basketball, would you?"

Classroom Class War

It's not just Klein's and Duncan's empty credentials which scare me: it's the ill philosophy behind the Bush-brand education theories they promote. "Teach-to-the-test" (which goes under such pre-packaged teaching brands as "Success for All") forces teachers to limit classroom time to pounding in rote low-end skills, easily measured on standardized tests. The transparent purpose is to create the future class of worker-drones. Add in some computer training and - voila! - millions trained on the cheap to function, not think. Analytical thinking skills, creative skills, questioning skills will be left to the privileged at the Laboratory School and Phillips Andover Academy.

We hope for better from the daddy of Sasha and Malia.

Educationally, the world is swamping us. The economic and social levees are bursting. We cannot afford another Way-to-go Brownie in charge of rescuing our children.

****************
Greg Palast is the father of school-aged twins and the author of, "No Child's Behind Left," included in his New York Times bestseller, Armed Madhouse. Palast is a Nation Institute Puffin Foundation Fellow for investigative reporting. Get a signed copy of Armed Madhouse for the holidays for a tax-deductible contribution to the Palast Investigative Fund at www.PalastInvestigativeFund.org

Subscribe to Palast's reports at www.GregPalast.com

Please re-post this.

Not a blog, just a survey train I hopped on

Got this from Kristen , John, and Alan. Chances are you don't know who they are unless you're a part of the vast Nerdfighter community. But that's OK, you don't have to know anything about them to get this survey. So, without further ado, here I go:

1. What’s your name?
Sean (so far, pretty easy)

2. What is your favorite thing to wear?
depends on if it's just to chill or if I feel like being a bit more dressed up. but either way it usually involves my slip on brown shoes.

3. Last thing you ate?
hershey's kisses (regular, dark chocolate, and caramel)

4. One place you will NEVER eat at?
I'll never get to eat in the same place as most historical figures. Or do you mean like a place I am opposed to eating at? In that case I guess Long John Silver's cuz the amount of batter on EVERYTHING there is enough to give me a heart attack in my 20's. there should be a surgeon general's warning on that stuff.

5. I say Shotgun, you say:
is this one of those obscure cheerleader cheers? never heard it...

j/k, I will most likely say "darn, well then I hope you don't mind moving the seat up a little to accomodate my long legs"

6. Last person you hugged?
I'm pretty sure it was my sister Heather as Amanda and I were preparing to head back here...either her or one of the others in the Preston clan =)

7. Does anyone you know wanna date you?
I'm sure the possibility exists. just wonder if they're brave enough to express that desire out loud.

8. Would you date anyone you met online?
Ya, but not just any random person. Have to at least meet in person first (or at least have some proof they aren't a 50 year old ax murderer) and known them as a friend for at least a while.

9. Name something you like physically about yourself:
mis ojos azules (my blue eyes for the non-bilingual)

10. The last place you went out to dinner to?
A Japanese restaurant in Mesa, AZ called Ichiban. It was pretty cool cuz it was one of those places with the grill at your table and the chef doing the fancy tricks and such with the food. Was the first time since middle school science class that i'd had calamari, but this time it wasn't raw, but rather grilled.

11. Who is your best friend?
Don't think there's ever just been one. it's a title shared by quite a few people.

12. What time of the day is it?
almost 3 A.M....ya, one of the "benefits" of having no job and taking a semester off =/

13. Who/What made you angry today?
nothing/no one really. A little disappointed that it's official that Hilary is Sec. of State...still think Richardson was a better pick. oh well, maybe she'll suprise us in a good way....

14. Baseball or Football?
Football, tho I don't keep up with it as much as I think I should to at least talk about teams/games somewhat knowledgably with other guys (or the occasional gal who's into football)

15. Ever gone skinny dipping?
Not yet, unless you count baths, then yes :-p

16. Favorite type of Food?
edible food is always good. mmm, now I'm hungry and thinking about about food...thanks, survey, thanks! >=|

17. Favorite holiday:
4th of July (not just cuz it's my b-day); Christmas (more for the music and movies than the presents); Thanksgiving (for the great time with family); and Easter (for the celebration of hope and salvation)

18. Do you download music:
yep, from iTunes mostly....tho if an artist offers a free download I'll take 'em up on it and eventually buy other songs and/or an album

19. Do you care if your socks are dirty?
not really, but I have my limits

20. Opinion of Chinese symbol tattoos?
Think they're kinda cool as long as you know for sure what it means and you're not doing it just cuz it's the "cool thing" to do.

21. Would you date the person that posted this?
well, the one of the three that is a girl....ya, tho I don't know her personally yet.

22. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally?
I don't think so. not that cool yet

23. Do you love anyone?
family and friends....no one romantically...yet

24. Are colored contact lenses sexy?
some are kinda cool for effect, but rockin what God gave you is much "sexier".

25. Have you ever bungee jumped?
No, but it's my bucket list along with skydiving :-D

26. Have you ever gone white-water rafting?
Not yet...another item on the bucket list

27. Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you?
I'm sure it's happened at least once, but probably online

27. How many pets do you have?
Just one cat who has out lasted every other pet we've had

29. Have you met a real redneck?
like someone with a neck that's actually red? ya :-p but seriously I think I know or have met a few rednecks (I mean I've lived and visted various parts of TX, NM, and SC so the odds are in favor of "yes")

30. How is the weather right now?
chilly, but fine

31. What are you listening to right now?
the t.v.

32. What is your current favorite song?
never really like this question...hmmm, I guess Coldplay's "viva la vida", Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" or Jon McLaughlin "beating my heart"

33. What was the last movie you watched?
The Kingdom

34. Do you wear contacts?
nope, not even glasses

35. Where was the last place you went besides your house?
sister's house in Mesa, AZ

36. What are you afraid of?
nothing tangible, really. more abstract things like failure or lonliness I guess.

37. How many piercings have you had?
none, unless you count that nail that pierced my foot years ago

38. What piercings do you want?
none really, but maybe a stud in one ear if anything

39. What’s one thing you’ve learned this year?
don't get too comfortable where you are, b/c the only home you can be sure of is your eternal home...and that God is ultimately in control

40. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
chai tea, "Vanilla Bean Frappuccino® Blended Crème", or a Jones soda, and probably a coffee cake slice or carrot cake

41. What Magazines are you reading?
was getting Wired for a while but I think the subscription ran out and we never renewed it.

42. Have you ever fired a gun:
yeppers

43. Are you missing someone?
ya, quite a few someones in various places

44. Favorite TV show?
Chuck, Heroes, Pushing Daisies (R.I.P.), Lost, Smallville, Scrubs, The Office, and Doctor Who

45. Do you have an obession with WoW?
nope, not even a mild interest

47. Has anyone said you look like a celebrity?
yes, one is a character (Cameron from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), and another is Steve Carrel

47. What celeb do you look like?
I don't think I really look like any celebrity I know of, not even the ones from the previous question

48. Who would you like to see right now?
more of my family, and my peeps in the LC

49. Favorite movie of all time?
just one? fine, then...Princess Bride

50. Do you find yourself loved?
Ya, tho I don't always recognize it or appreciate it as much as I should

51. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren’t suppose to?
of course....it's been a constant with the human race since Adam & Eve

52. Favorite smell?
rain, cinnamon, and mint

53. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn?
butter, and that flavored salt or powder...mmm

54. What’s something that really bugs you?
some of the meaningless stuff that we give way too much meaning to...i'm not immune, but it still bugs me

55. Do you like Michael Jackson?
I like his music, and I have nothing against him cuz I don't know him enough to judge anything else

56. Taco Bell or Burger King?
BK, despite the creepy King

57. What’s your favorite perfume?
I don't know any of those scents well enough

58. Favorite baseball team?
Don't really pay much attention...these days I basically say anyone but the Yankee's. I guess the Red Sox

59. Ever call a 1-900 phone number?
nope

60. What’s the longest time you’ve gone without sleep?
can't remember exactly but somewhere between 24 and 40 hrs

61. Last time you went bowling?
did some Wii bowling over Thanksgiving...actual bowling, tho...um about 2 months ago I think

62. Where is the weirdest place you have slept?
everyone usually says a car...so it must not be that weird/un-normal? so my answer is the coffee table in the den

63. Who was your last phone call?
Mom I think

64. Last time you were at work?
A little more than a year ago =/

65. What is the closest orange object near you?
does the "publish post" button count? how bout the "blogger" logo? no? ok....well, was gonna say the cat, but she moved so now it's a sticker on Amanda's computer