When I turned on the TV this morning--a perk of being a retiree, I caught the end of the Senate Confirmation Hearing of the Secretary for Education (Arne Duncan) for the Obama Administration. I found later a videotape of the proceedings at CSPAN. Mr. Duncan must have done an outstanding job in the office calls and private sessions with the senators prior to the hearing because the his hearing was pretty close to being a "lovefest." I had no doubts about Mr. Duncan, as an Obama nominee. In the hearing I was more interested in the views and tones of the senators.
Senator Harkins (Iowa) lead the hearing as Education and Labor Committee Acting Chairman. He had a host of good questions and comments. Overall I liked Sen. Harkins passions for education. He made good points about the need for the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services to get together to work on education programs for young children. I wholeheartedly agee. Just this morning I was review the Head Start education standards as they relate to the Florida Sunshine State Standards and wondered why Head Start wasn't under the Department of Education. Also, Sen Harkins surfaced the problem of programs for kids with disabilities being underfunded.
Other senators were noteworthy as well. Sen. MuClusky (Maryland) made points concerning providing more support to teachers. She had the most touching story about a kid who simply wanted to learn to be smart. Sen. Murray (Washington) mentioned preparation of children for careers of tomorrow. I was really happy to hear her mention that we will need mechanics as well in the future and that instead of No Child Left Behind we should reframe it to Every Child Has a Skill We Need. Sen. Roberts (Kansas) highlighted special needs and the IDEA Program being underfunded. The hallaluah remarks for me came from Sen. Alexander (Tennessee) when he indicated that towards educating a child, parents were #1 and teachers were #2. I also believe that parents/families are the primary educators for children, but for some reason their role seems to be diminished when we discuss education of children.
Sen. Sanders (Vermont) was terrific with raising a wide range of concerns. He mentioned the need to focus on prevention of children getting in trouble, the need to invest more in childcare vs. prisons, more affordable childcare, and more after school and Saturday programs.
As an educator, it was great to see education in the spotlight with our leaders. I'm confident that Mr. Duncan will make a fine Secretary of Education. I hope the senators will be as lovable and supportive when Mr. Duncan comes a knockin' for funds.
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