Summary: Arne Duncan was recently appointed as Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education. This article looks at how he knows President Obama, and his achievements working with schools in Chicago. It also highlights the tasks that await him over the next four years. Critique of Obama’s choice is given at the end of the article.
Topic: Pell Grants
Category: Journalistic
What is it: Article
Title: Education pick noted for”hands on approach’
USA Today; 12/17/2008
Author: Toppo, Greg
Location: ebscohost MAS ultra
Accessed: 1/27/09
Support:
Joe Williams: Director of Democrats for Education Reform
Barack Obama: President of the United States
Alexander Russo: writer of the district299.com blog
Kate Walsh: National Council on Teacher Quality
Summary:
Joe Williams comments on how Duncan led Chicago schools for the past 7 years, and that shows he has grit. Obama is quoted explaining why he thinks that Duncan is right for the job. The president said that school reform is Arne Duncan’s life. Alexander Russo, who writes about Chicago schools on his blog, comments on how easy the job was for Duncan. He talks about how the city hall was primarily democrat, and that Duncan had no real opposition. Kate Walsh, who is a member of a DC advocacy group called the National Council on Teacher Quality, comments at the end of the article on how little authority Duncan will actually have in DC.
Source Analysis:
USA Today is one the most prominent national newspapers. Its audience is the average person, and it has no political slant.
Usefulness:
This article was useful to me because it was a great look at the person that will fighting for the new American tax credit. After reading this article about what he has accomplished in Chicago I think that he is the right person for the job. If Duncan has been fighting for school reform in Chicago for seven years, and if he is as tough as Obama says, then opposition will not scare him. I also think that if Obama can gather members from all 50 states, like Jon Alter from Newsweek suggested in his editorial, that Duncan might have more influence over the nation.
Filed under: Source notes
[...] Journalistic number one Journalistic number two Journalistic number three Journalistic number four Journalistic number five Institutional number one Institutional number two Institutional number [...]