In response to requests for assistance from state and local officials across the country following a rash of bullying-related suicides, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today distributed a memo to state leaders outlining key components of strong state bullying laws and policies. These districts, the Democrat leaders said, could be subject to investigation by their departments, regardless of whether the student behaviors leading to the disciplinary measures were unacceptable. — Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) July 11, 2020. He announced a new White House proposal to divert $15 billion of spending on the costs of incarceration to states willing to spend more money on teachers and support staff in schools serving the nation’s most troubled school districts. close. He announced a new White House proposal to divert $15 billion of spending on the costs of incarceration to states willing to spend more money on teachers and support staff in schools serving the nation’s most troubled school districts. Key examples in state laws are highlighted as legislation that works to help protect students. According to his column at Education Week, Arne Duncan is now a supporter of local control of education because President Donald Trump tweeted, “Schools must open in the fall!!!”. The Obama-era education secretary, who served for seven years, wrote: I have never believed in local control more than I do today, especially given the absence of leadership coming from Washington on the issue of when and how to reopen public schools safely amid COVID-19. Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is the former United States Secretary of Education from 2009 through December 2015. That’s a local decision for parents, educators, administrators, and students.”, Nevertheless, when parents battling Common Core in their states argued they wanted standards produced at the “local” level, Duncan dismissed them as “white suburban moms.”, 2020 ElectionEducationPoliticsArne DuncanCommon CorecoronavirusDonald Trumpfederal control of educationlocal control of educationObama administrationObama-era school leniency policypublic schoolsreopening. The memo, which was sent to all governors, chief state school officers and state education boards, is part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to prevent bullying in schools. “Strong anti-bullying policies instill a climate that this behavior will not be tolerated.”. The man who spearheaded the federally incentivized Common Core State Standards initiative and referred to parents opposed to it as “white suburban moms” now says he backs “local control” of education. © 2020 National Cable Satellite Corporation. However, in 2014, while serving in the Obama administration, Duncan and former Attorney General Eric Holder issued a “Dear Colleague” guidance that threatened school districts that did not show leniency in disciplinary measures toward minority students. By Joy Resmovits. He responded to questions submitted from the audience in the National Press Club on a variety of education topics, including Congress’s stalled reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), best known as "No Child Left Behind". King Jr., who “began doing weekly conference calls with a dozen big-city school superintendents to talk through issues and solutions.”. Duncan apparently has made a sudden shift from heading up the huge federal education bureaucracy and backing nationalized academic standards to adopting a “local control” view since Trump’s tweet Monday: — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020. Education Secretary Arne Duncan talked about the role of race and class in education, as well as the state of criminal justice in the U.S. Racism continues to be the cancer in the soul of our nation that is killing us. To read the technical assistance memo, see http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/secletter/101215.html. But we can stop it now,” Duncan said. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and a panel of young professionals talked about education, jobs,…, Education Secretary John King talked about the role played by U.S. schools to prepare students for civic engagement, as well as the…, Education Secretary Arne Duncan outlined the Obama administration’s education priorities. “Nearly a decade after states adopted Common Core, the empirical evidence makes it clear that these national standards have yielded underwhelming results for students,” said Pioneer executive director Jim Stergios in a statement. Presumptive Democrat 2020 nominee Joe Biden has joined with failed candidate Bernie Sanders to create a “unity” plan that recommends a return to the same “guidance.”. “We need the commitment from everyone at the federal, state and local level to put an end to bullying,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. But our violent backlash against that historic event- electing Trump- just might destroy both. And in Massachusetts, the state policy includes a provision to provide training to an extensive list of staff members to help them prevent, identify and respond to bullying.