When a Chicago study came out last year [showing that Arne Duncan's expensive school closure policy was largely ineffective because most students whose schools were closed ended up going to schools that were no better] there was mega hand-wringing and lots of “I-told-you-sos” from opponents of closures... Rather than throwing away the closure option, Chicago schools CEO Ron Huberman learned from previous efforts and adjusted the strategy. Now, all kids displaced by closures will have access to higher performing options. Not brain surgery for sure...I don't know how much Arne Duncan was paid as CEO of Chicago Public Schools, nor how much Huberman makes. Considering their stunning lack of credentials or experience, it was and is certainly too much. My guess is probably in the neighborhood of $250,000 plus perks. So maybe I'm just hardnosed, but when a public servant sucks up that much of my taxes, I kinda expect they should be able to make commonsense decisions like not shutting kids out of a school unless there is a better alternative.
Being a performance-driven conservative, you'd think Andy would too. You'd think he'd hold Duncan's feet to the fire a bit for such stupid implementation of a (maybe) decent policy. You would also think he wouldn't find anything especially laudable in Huberman's (maybe) improved implementation. You might even think Smarick would be a wee bit sceptical of Huberman when he says he's going to insure that students of closing schools get better options (like asking questions like, "Gee, Ron, how are you going to make sure that happens, since so far you seem like a martinet, a liar, and a nitwit?") But you'd think wrong.
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