For many years we cheered Chicagoan Arne Duncan, President Barack Obama's education secretary, as he tangled with teachers unions and other defenders of the public education industry's status quo. He never lost his zeal for the mission: to help every student achieve the most that he or she can. To give all children a chance to attend excellent schools. To ensure that only the best teachers stand at the head of the class. To jolt educrats from complacency.
Now Duncan's Cabinet seat may — or may not — soon be filled by President Donald Trump's controversial nominee, Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos.
We've strongly backed her because we hear echoes of Duncan in what DeVos says. Here's an excerpt from a 2015 speech she delivered on what America's education system is versus what it could be:
"It's a battle of Industrial Age versus the Digital Age. It's the Model T versus the Tesla. It's old factory model versus the new internet model. It's the Luddites versus the future. We must open up the education industry — and let's not kid ourselves that it isn't an industry — we must open it up to entrepreneurs and innovators. This is how families without means will get access to a world-class education. This is how a student who's not learning in their current model can find an individualized learning environment that will meet their needs.
"We are the beneficiaries of startups, ventures and innovation in every other area of life, but we don't have that in education because it's a closed system, a closed industry, a closed market. It's a monopoly. It's a dead end. And the best and brightest innovators and risk-takers steer way clear of it. As long as education remains a closed system, we will never see the education equivalents of Google, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal, Wikipedia or Uber. We won't see any real innovation that benefits more than a handful of students."
Duncan, too, wasn't satisfied with incremental or illusory student gains. He wanted students in poorly performing schools to have access to better ones. He wanted educators held accountable for their students' learning — and paid extra for superior performance.
Duncan and DeVos. Different politics. But the same sense of urgency about this mission: Children can't wait.
Moments from Betsy DeVos' confirmation hearingBetsy DeVos answers questions about equal accountability in federally funded schools, proficiency versus growth in education and guns in schools. Jan. 17, 2017.
Betsy DeVos answers questions about equal accountability in federally funded schools, proficiency versus growth in education and guns in schools. Jan. 17, 2017.
See more videosIn that 2015 speech, DeVos named Republican and Democratic officials working to free students from stifling schools, striving to give every student a chance at a superior education. She noted that "American education has been losing ground to other countries for at least half a century." And: "We are stuck in a partisan rut. The political parties are dead-enders when it comes to education revolution."
Revolution is a scary word. It threatens those who care more about adults' job security than children's progress. It frightens those who are comfortable that large numbers of students receive a mediocre education. It horrifies those who fear charter schools. Charters are child-centric. They tend to demand rigor from students — and from teachers. They decide for themselves how long a school day should last.
Duncan, you recall, tried to reform public education. He pioneered the innovative Race to the Top competition, giving districts incentives to improve. He led a charge to allow more charter schools and tie teacher evaluations to student advancement. Oh, how the teachers unions loathed that.
One quick aside on how teacher incentives pay off. We'd bet that Duncan and DeVos have studied this development in detail: In Wisconsin, a 2011 law allows districts to compete for better teachers by paying them more. It also allows districts to cap salaries for lower performers. A recent Stanford University study found what you'd expect: A significant number of the best teachers migrated to places where they'd be paid more for their excellence; their less talented peers, meanwhile, moved to districts with lockstep pay raises so they wouldn't be at risk. Result: Student math achievement rose significantly in districts that were attracting the best teachers.
When Duncan resigned in 2015, Obama said: "Arne's done more to bring our educational system, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the 21st century than anybody else."
High praise and a high bar for the next education secretary.
We hope that's Betsy DeVos.
Related articles:
Betsy DeVos vs. the education status quo
Grading Arne Duncan
Mitt Romney op-ed: Betsy DeVos a smart choice for education secretary
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