On Education, Obama Blows It

[LWolf]

I know it's a dangerous endeavor to object to Obama at DU. At least, for those who fear virtual flames from the faithful.

OH WELL.


Gerald Bracey

Fellow at the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University
Posted February 25, 2009 | 12:29 AM (EST)


<snip>

I have not the expertise to address the merits of President Obama's speech to Congress on the issues of the economy. I do claim some expertise on education. He blew it.

He accepted the same garbage that the propagandists, fear mongers such as Lou Gerstner, Bill Gates, Roy Romer, Bob Wise, Craig Barrett and many others--God help us, Arne Duncan?--have been spewing for years.

Obama said, ""Right now, three quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma, and yet just over half of our citizens have that level of education." Scary, huh? Not really. This statistic was a favorite of ex secretary of education of education Margaret Spellings, about whom we can all express a sigh of relief that the operative word is, "ex."

If you look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics stats on job projections, it is almost true (but not really) that what Obama said is right. But there are two hugely compromising factors that make this statistic much less fearsome that it first appears:

More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-bracey/on-education-obama-blows_b_169715.html