The nation’s teachers have been unfairly blamed for the state of education, said John King, acting U.S. Secretary of Education, in a speech in Philadelphia.
King admitted the USA’s education debate over the past few years has been “characterized by more heat than light,” and that despite reformers’ best intentions, “teachers and principals, at times, have felt attacked and unfairly blamed for the challenges our nation faces.”
King acknowledged the attacks had come from as high up as his own federal agency in Washington, D.C., where he’d served as a top advisor to former Education SecretaryArne Duncan for more than a year.
“All of us — at the local, state, and federal level, the Education Department included — have to take responsibility for the climate that exists,” he said. ”There is no question that the contentious tone has made it harder to have productive conversations.”
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