Arne Duncan vs. the Blob

The Economist has a broad, if not particularly deep, profile of Education Secretary Arne Duncan that's well worth reading for anyone interested in the big picture of the future of American public schools. Duncan comes off as extraordinarily well liked, capable and fixed to make major reforms in education. At the same time, the magazine opines that the former pro-ball player has no sure slam dunk:

But the bigger reason to be pessimistic about Mr Duncan is that the education establishment has an astonishing record of neutralising reform-minded politicians. Entrenched vested interests and a decentralised system—with much of the day-to-day decision-making controlled by 16,000 school districts—combine to squash most promises of improvement. The mighty teachers’ unions regularly welcome reforms in theory while destroying them in practice. Bill Bennett, Ronald Reagan’s education secretary, perfectly described this slippery bunch as “the blob”.

The battle between Mr Duncan and the blob is a crucial one. The result of the battle will determine, first, whether it is worth continuing with moderate education reforms—for if these reforms cannot succeed with $100 billion and a golden boy at the helm, they never will. It will also determine whether Mr Obama can deliver on his promise to build the American economy on the rock of well-educated and productive workers rather than the sand of financial speculation. A pity that, however many battles it loses, the blob always seems to win the long war.

When Duncan was first nominated, we ran our own snapshot of Duncan and school transportation. As CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Duncan appeared to have experience with busing systems and recognized their value. At the same time, he resisted a No Child Left Behind requirement that would have demanded more cross-town transfers, saying:

"I am not for putting money into yellow school buses when I can put it into teaching and learning ... I am not going to overburden schools that are improving. Where the law does not make sense, I am not going to do anything to jeopardize the progress we are making."