The trusty Reform-o-Meter has become a little rusty lately; that's because there hasn't been a lot of action at the U.S. Department of Education worth rating. This is particularly true since we still don't know who the picks for Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary, or Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education will be.
Still, Secretary Duncan has made a couple of selections lately that together are worthy of comment: Jo Anderson to be his Senior Advisor and ??Gabriella Gomez to be his Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs. What do they have in common? They both used to work at a major teachers union.
Let's tackle Anderson first. Here's a summary of his bio from the Department's press release:
Anderson currently serves as the Executive Director of the Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA). Before assuming that post in 2005, he held a variety of other positions with IEA-NEA, working on a range of issues from school restructuring to professional development. In 1995, Anderson founded the Center for Educational Innovation (CEI) to facilitate school restructuring and reform efforts throughout Illinois. He also held posts with the Industrial Areas Foundation and the National Consumers Union and was a university instructor in philosophy and political science.
I had the privilege of meeting Jo a few years ago during a swing through Springfield, Illinois. I had heard from colleagues in Illinois that he was top-notch--as friendly to reform (and "innovation") as you could possibly expect from an NEA official. And I left with the same impression. He's not unlike our President: a former community organizer, a former professor, and someone whose demeanor seems unmistakably reasonable, even if his policy positions are hard to pin down.
And what about Gomez? I don't know her, and can't find much about her views, but here's how the Chronicle of Higher Education describes her background:
Ms. Gomez, who joined the [House education and labor] committee in 2006 after five years with the American Federation of Teachers, played a key role in crafting recent higher-education bills, including last year's reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and a 2007 budget-reconciliation bill that slashed lender subsidies and halved the interest rate on student loans.She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Loyola Marymount University in 1995 and a master's in education policy from Harvard University in 2001.
In a news release, Ms. Gomez's boss, Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said: "I look forward to working with her, Secretary [Arne] Duncan, and the Obama administration to rebuild our economy and middle class by strengthening educational opportunities for all Americans."
This isn't a lot to go on. But from my experience at the Department of Education, the head of the office of "leg affairs" isn't much of a policy job anyway. She will basically be an emissary between Capitol Hill and the Department; in some ways, she'll continue to work for George Miller. Her job will be to keep Arne out of trouble with Miller, Senator Kennedy, and their staffs.
So what to make of these appointments? On the one hand, we could criticize the Obama team for inviting any union folks into the fold. But that would be unfair, for two reasons. First, plenty of reasonable (and reform-minded) people have worked for the unions, especially the AFT. (For example: Matt Gandal, who is now VP at Achieve.) And second, let's face it, a Democratic Administration has to have at least some teacher union representation as a matter of political reality.
So, if Duncan had to pick a couple of union folks for senior jobs, the selection of reform-minded Anderson and Hill-savvy Gomez strikes me as a reasonable compromise. So I'll give these appointments, which aren't hugely important (a 2 out of 10, I think) a "Neutral" rating in terms of education reform. What do you think? Cast your vote below.
