Duncan to States: Lick My Boots For An NCLB Waiver

Obama has given the green light for the Department of Education to grant non-competitive NCLB waivers to states that adopt his and Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s reforms, Ed Week reported today. Obama will not reveal what those reforms are until September, but they are likely to be more of the same: continued testing and accountability, more charter schools, weakening of teachers’ due process rights through changes to tenure and seniority, teacher evaluations based on student test scores.

The NEA has already endorsed Obama, which means he has little reason to do anything radically different. Even without their endorsement, though, both the NEA and AFT have done virtually nothing to oppose these attacks on teachers, children and public schools, sending the message to Obama, Duncan and politicians from left to right that they are simply doormats at their service.