Cleveland, OH
The mood is changing at the Dept. of Education in Washington, D.C. My friend and colleague, Stephanie, who is a teacher ambassador at the DOE this year had described the climate this fall and winter as “toxic.”
But she said that this past week, the cloud has dramatically lifted, and there is great hope and optimism among the permanent staff. Here are some notes from an employee there that she forwarded to me (you may have seen this already): You can call me Arne
The changes will not come easily, and they will not come quickly. But the years of closed-door decision making and blindness to the reality on the ground appear to be changing. It’s a massive system, and one that changes at a glacial pace, but it is at least starting down the right track.
[editors note: Michelle Obama made it to the Dept. of Ed within her first two weeks as First Lady and met with a few hundred people to recognize about a dozen long-time employees. Our former first lady (whose agenda was education) didn’t make it to the Dept. of Ed until her last year, and according to my sources, only met with a few. Again, not earth-shattering news, but signs of change, nonetheless.]
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Interesting about the new First Lady -- she's also pledged to be a proponent for military families, trying to limit tours in the sand. I feel like she'll actually have an influence here.
ReplyDeleteI was also relieved to find out that this blog entry wasn't about the dangers of tampons.