If you thought Arne Duncan was controversial, meet his successor.

From the frying pan into the fire...my first thoughts on this. They really must think we are stupid.

If you thought Arne Duncan was controversial, meet his successor

Now that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has decided to step down in December, the U.S. Department of Education will be headed by John King. And if you thought Duncan was controversial, meet his successor.

....One of the strongest critiques of King came from the editorial board of the Journal News of the Lower Hudson Valley. Its Dec. 12, 2014, editorial entitled, “Commissioner King’s Tone Deaf Legacy” described the commissioner’s pattern of disregard for the opinions of those with whom he disagreed:

King’s manner is as gentle as the state’s agenda has been heavy-handed. He speaks softly, repeats the same messages over and over, and doesn’t let himself appear to be ruffled by outside forces. He forges ahead with an air of certainty about his mission to force schools to get better against their will. This attitude should serve him well in Washington, where Education Secretary Duncan is also impervious to critics of reform (like those “white suburban moms” he went after last year).

As usual for the "reformers", one can receive a "no confidence" vote ....and still be promoted to higher places. Only teachers in public schools are held accountable it seems.

But in January 2014, the board of directors of the New York State United Teachers, a union with more than 600,000 members, passed a resolution declaring “no confidence” in King’s policies after thousands of New York principals, teachers, parents, professors, administrators and citizens signed a letter written by New York principals that attacked his teacher evaluation system, which is known as APPR. It said in part:

"As building principals, we recognize that change is an essential component of school improvement. We continually examine best practices and pursue the most promising research-based school improvement strategies. We are very concerned, however, that at the state level change is being imposed in a rapid manner and without high-quality evidentiary support."

More from a couple of education bloggers:

Goodbye, Arne Duncan…Hello, John King

The same reports of Arne Duncan’s pending resignation also state that former New York State Commissioner of Education, Dr. John King, Jr. will lead the Department of Education as Acting Secretary, possibly for the remainder of President Obama’s term which ends in January of 2017. To say that Commissioner King’s departure from the Empire State was unlamented would be a mammoth understatement. While far quieter than his current boss in the Federal DOE, Dr. King is no less devoted to the central tenants of education reform today: Common Core standards, mass standardized testing, evaluation of teachers using standardized tests, and the proliferation of loosely regulated charter schools. What Dr. King lacks in dynamic public persona, he more than makes up for in dogged determination to plow ahead with a fixed agenda regardless of feedback or evidence. Indeed, the most constant skill he demonstrated as the head of the New York State Education Department was his ability to patiently let feedback and criticism wash right over him and have no influence on decision making whatsoever. Head of Class Size Matters, Leonie Haimson, had this to say upon his leaving:

John King was the most unpopular commissioner in the history of NY State. He showed no respect for parents, teachers or student privacy. Ironically, he was intent on protecting his own privacy, and routinely withheld public documents; our Freedom of Information request of his communications with inBloom and the Gates foundation is more than 1 ½ years overdue. His resignation is good news for New York state; hopefully he will be unable to do as much damage at the US Department of Education.

Doesn't look like anything will be changing in the Education Department.

By the time, Dr. King left his office in Albany, he had created a great deal of chaos in New York schools, alienated every major constituency, and had created the conditions that led to the largest parental opt out movement in the history of standardized testing.

Arne Duncan is trending on Twitter

Some good reads there.