Education Secretary Arne Duncan says ‘White suburban mothers’ comments about Common Core was ‘clumsy phrasing’
Education Secretary Arne Duncan had to battle questions and criticisms after his remarks regarding opponents of Common Core, the latest Federal standard rolling out to public schools.
Duncan said that opposition was coming from “white suburban moms” who fear that “their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were.”
“I used some clumsy phrasing that I regret — particularly because it distracted from an important conversation about how to better prepare all of America’s students for success,” Duncan wrote in a statement. “I want to encourage a difficult conversation and challenge the underlying assumption that when we talk about the need to improve our nation’s schools, we are talking only about poor minority students in inner cities. This is simply not true. Research demonstrates that as a country, every demographic group has room for improvement.”
Here’s the full remark made by Duncan:
“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary…You’ve bet your house and where you live and everything on ‘My child’s going to be prepared.’ That can be a punch in the gut.”
Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, was interviewing Duncan at Friday’s event and said that Duncan’s larger point has been lost due to the outcry over his comments.
“He was actually saying that these standards are harder than what many states had in the past and fewer kids are going to be passing,” Minnich said.
For an entertaining an intense rebuke, check out Michelle Malkin’s “Brown skinned” response HERE
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