Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > November > 05 > Entry
New Education Secretary … Colin Powell?
According to this Bloomberg News story, President-elect Obama may consider former Secretary of State Colin Powell for education secretary. The story sources this to Mark Halperin at Time Magazine, but I cannot find the original story.
This choice would be, to say the least, surprising. Bloomberg says Powell has a long-running interest in education, but if he has been involved in education policy at all it has been under my radar.
Powell is philosophically conservative. Would he, for instance, be a booster of vouchers and charter schools? Powell did lend his name to a Dayton charter school. Of course, it’s now potentially embarrassing that the Colin Powell Leadership Academy was forced to close for chronic academic underperformance and glaring mismanagement.
It’s also a potential concern that Obama would give this job to someone who has an “interest” but perhaps no real expertise in education. The issues in education are complex and nuanced. The education secretary shouldn’t have a steep learning curve.
Of course, this is all speculation right now. It will be interesting to see Powell is a serious contender or not.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Schools and Politics
Comments
By chief
November 11, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this
I have not seen a leader at the state level or federal level be an expert in the field of public education. These people have no classroom experience or even PTO/PTA experience. The experts are those who spent time in a classroom setting. To say it is a complicated field is an understatement. I spent 30 years in the high school setting, negotiated contracts and worked with administrators throughout my career. We spent too many hours fighting politicians who wanted to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately, administrators don’t stand up to these politicians.By dadofaspie
November 11, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
Do you remember former Secr. of Ed. Rod Paige? He referred to the NEA as “terrorists.” The NEA blocked his attempts to enforce the law. He was also frustrated that minorities are overrepresented in special ed. We need a Secr of Ed that will enforce the laws, and put an end to corruption - otherwise education will never improve regardless of the amt of money poured into it.By Rich
November 10, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this
Here’s one Halperin link that mentions the possibility Powell might serve as Sec. of Education: http://thepage.time.com/8-burning-obama-biden-questions/ Then there’s this, also from Time magazine’s website, downplaying the possibility: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857195,00.htmlBy One who knows
November 10, 2008 9:39 PM | Link to this
Scott, I want to make sure you get the facts correct. CPLA was forced to close by the attroney general. The CPLA board decided not to fight the decision. When CPLA was left to the sponsor, the school was fiscally sound. After the transition was made, the school was turned over to the sponsor who in quick fashion, decided to close the school at the end of the December instead of at the end of the school year which was the original plan that would have allowed for all the bills to be paid off. So to make a long story made short, when the school was turned over to the sponsor in November, the school was financially sound and had a plan in place to make one more attempt to meet the academic requirements of the state. It is sad that CPLA fell victim to the misplaced politics of an Attroney General who it later proved was on a witch hunt.By dadofaspie
November 7, 2008 3:50 PM | Link to this
I don’t think Colin Powell is necessarily a bad choice. To be an effective “agent of change,” might require someone outside of the education establishment, who could lead and make tough decisions.By joe_mamma
November 6, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
Colin Powell is conservative? Bah ha ha ha haaaa!!!! Keep em coming Scott. Good one.By Oldprof
November 6, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this
Why not Tom Vilsack? He’s shown he knows how to improve the government’s function in setting up an education system—let’s not get more micromanagers who want to fire all the teachers in a school based on no more detailed investigation than high-risk assessments.By Mary
November 5, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this
I thought I read a few news articles over the years about how Colin Powell and his wife Alma? were very involved in education issues, particularly for minorities. As a military retiree, I was much more impressed with how the military conducted education and training (including writing) than I was with how public education did its job. The curriculum for various military schools and courses seemed to be better designed, faster paced, better taught, and highly focused. Maybe he would be good for the job. I just hope he understands education issues other than just minority focussed and drop out issues - not that those are also not important.