A little more than a year ago, President Obama ended our "name the next education secretary tracking poll" contest by nominating Arne Duncan to head the U.S. Department of Education. (Though our smart insiders saw this one coming from the start.)
And let's admit it: Arne had a pretty good year. First he got to bail out local school districts to the tune of $100 billion, and then he got to use $4 billion in borrowed money to push state legislators to embrace his preferred??reforms. His boss can now crow to his base--the teachers unions--about how "there" he's been for them through this tough time, but he can also seize the mantle of a reformer.
That's not to say that the Administration's policies have been perfect; far from it. I have grave concerns about the Race to the Top's long-term impact on education federalism, and doubt that the reforms states are now embracing (under duress) will actually turn out to be well implemented in the end. I also believe that some tough love for bloated school districts--in other words, turning off the federal funding spigot--would force some much-overdue and needed changes.
But that's a policy wonk's view. The average voter is happy that his kid's teacher hasn't been laid off, and to the extent that he's heard of the "Race to the Top" might be pleasantly surprised that a Democrat president is pushing for reforms like charter schools and merit pay. This stuff will play very well in next year's midterms.
Arne looks especially good in comparison to the rest of the Cabinet. Yes, Timothy Geithner helped to save the world from the second Great Depression, but members of Congress and their constituents back home still love to hate him. Hillary Clinton has traveled the world but has accomplished little in the Middle East, and the Pentagon is of course still facing a quagmire in Afghanistan. Kathleen Sebelius has failed to deliver a health care bill yet (p.s. she's the Health and Human Services Secretary) and what's-his-name at Energy didn't get a cap-and-trade bill done, either.
So if the President is handing out Christmas bonuses this year, the biggest one (along with a big kiss) should go to Arne.
--Mike Petrilli
