Not to be Outdone, Arne Duncan Embarks on His Own "Magical Mystery Bus Tour"

This is from the Department of Education's Twitter Feed on Friday, September 2:

Arne Duncan (@arneduncan)
9/2/11 2:53 PM
First look at the bus for next week's Great Lakes Back-to-School Bus Tour #EDTour11 http://t.co/cGUgTWm

Obviously Duncan won't be traveling on this wrecked bus. This bus is a visual metaphor for the reforms Duncan has offered. (For the sleek looking bus he uses, click the link on the twitter feed).

I wondered if Duncan recycled one of President Obama's buses from his recent Mid-Western tour (being "green" and recycling is an important DOE goal and the path to prosperity for students) but I discovered Duncan has made a bus tour before. He may very well be recycling last year's bus. What is that "important DOE goal"? It comes from a Philadelphia meeting with Joe Biden and federal agency heads in a "Middle Class Task Force" meeting:

"Vice President Biden's focus on the middle class is directly aligned with our focus on improving education and college access. This is about the American Dream and it starts with education. The green jobs of tomorrow demand a quality education today," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. (February 2009). With the closing of Solyndra and half of billion dollars of taxpayer money gone, should the Education Secretary be focusing on different sectors in which to steer educational goals for American students?

Duncan's first bus tour was in August 2010. What was the purpose of the tour?

The blue charter bus emblazoned with a federal logo, images of smiling teachers and slogans such as "Courage in the Classroom" pulls up to school after school.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is on a campaign to cheer on America's teachers at a time when a sizable number are skeptical of President Obama's education agenda. Duncan faces a curious situation. In the past year and a half, he has dispensed tens of billions of dollars to sustain schools through fiscal crises and to fund ideas to improve. On Tuesday, he awarded nine states and the District $3 billion for education innovation. As the school year starts, he will unload another $10 billion for education jobs.

The first tour was to mollify teachers and what is the current bus tour focus?

The “Education and the Economy” Back-to-School Bus Tour takes Secretary Arne Duncan and senior ED staff to more than 50 events throughout the Midwest. During the tour, Duncan and staff will promote the valuable work teachers, parents, and administrators do every day to change students’ lives and, ultimately, invest in our nation’s future. Arne will be meeting with educators and talking with students, parents, administrators, and community stakeholders. Among the topics that Secretary Duncan and senior staff will discuss include the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, K-12 reform, transforming the teaching profession, civil rights enforcement, efforts to better serve students with disabilities and English Language Learners, Promise Neighborhoods, the Investing in Innovation (i3) fund, STEM education, increasing college access and attainment as well as vocational and adult education.

How much carbon footprint will Secretary Duncan be using on this tour? Do you think he will be successful rallying support for nationalized curriculum, unfunded debt to states, turning schools into social service agencies and saddling students with college debt they can't afford to pay back because there are no jobs available for those college educated students America so desperately needs? Where is the idea of personal responsibility of parents and students in his message?

Here is a pre-tour analysis of President Obama's bus trip from a Pittsburgh newspaper:

It's important to projecting an image that the president empathizes with people's needs, and to show leadership, political analysts say -- and that's one reason presidents choose bus tours or use factories as backdrops for speeches. Yet, sometimes utilizing such props fails.

Just insert Arne Duncan's name in place of the word "president" and you've got the gist of Duncan's bus tour. It's difficult to believe Duncan's tour will be successful when none of these educational reforms are from local districts or taxpayers. It's difficult to behave empathetically when it is your federal agency that is mandating reforms on the taxpayers who have no choice!

If Secretary Duncan was truly empathetic to people's needs, the Federal government would step down and let local communities dictate their educational services and direction. If he would do that, the DOE wouldn't have to be spending money on gasoline driving a bus preaching an empty message. That would certainly be a "green" move in the right direction.

Arne Duncan and the Tempest in the Teapot

Readers of this blog are cognizant of the dangers of common core standards, Race to the Top, Vision for Missouri Public Education, or whatever name you place on the federalization of public education. It not only comes in the guise of the above programs, it also comes in the current push for charter schools by this administration.

Some people not familiar with the methodical takeover by the schools via stimulus money which bypasses state legislatures, or inane competitions by states for federal money being dangled like carrots on a string, may think I am overreacting or haven't thoroughly researched this subject.

Well, to any doubters out there, take a look at this article quoting Arne Duncan. Not only does he want your child from cradle to age 20, complete with a longitudinal data system to track your family and your child's progress, he now wants to make your child into a "good environmental citizen". I think the tempest in the teapot Arne Duncan has been creating is about to come to a full boil with his new statements and intentions for public education students.

Mr. Duncan is intent on pushing educational propaganda for programs not proven accurate. For example, one goal of the administration is to spend billions on wind power. Obama has stated he wants the United States to emulate Spain's energy program. However, what Mr. Duncan and other greenies fail to mention is that these programs are more expensive than traditional energy sources and for every green job created, 2.2 traditional jobs are deleted.

Duncan stated,

“Educators have a central role in this. A well educated citizen knows that we must not act in this generation in ways that endanger the next,” said Duncan. “They teach students about how the climate is changing. They explain the science behind climate change and how we can change our daily practices to help save the planet. They have a role in preparing students for jobs in the green economy.”

“Historically," Duncan said, "the Department of Education hasn’t been doing enough to drive the sustainability movement, and today, I promise that we will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society."

When did it become the responsibility of this Department to support a sustainability movement? WHO is going to teach students how our climate is changing; scientists who pushed theories for financial reward and now have to admit some of their data is not scientifically accurate? Why are we pursuing a green economy at the expense of proven energy systems when it has been proven green jobs are not financially sustainable and harmful to existing industries?

Duncan goes on to state:

"I want my department to help advance the sustainability movement through education."

This isn't education. This is propaganda, pure and simple. It is just one example of the danger of common core standards. This type of curriculum is what will be taught to your child under this Administration. This is not the school of critical thinking; it is the school of teaching distorted theories as factual information.

It is past time for parents, taxpayers, and legislators to say ENOUGH. Our children should not be taught false theories to fulfill an administration's goals. That's not education. That is indoctrination. I have an idea. Let's take the educational goals of this administration and "pour them down the drain". Tip that teapot over and fill it up with new goals. Take the Federal government out of the mix and place the education of children back to the parents. School choice is what parents want and students deserve, not spending millions of additional dollars for the Department of Education to push its political agenda.

(ht: a watchdog)