Arne Duncan

So the work evolved over time.

[upbeat music] We'll be right back with more of my conversation with Arne Duncan, the former US Secretary of Education.

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I'm just nodding knowingly as if I know [chuckles] something about what he's talking about.

[laughs]

And finally he says, "So what do you think of Arne Duncan?" And I said, "I don't really know Arne Duncan, but I've literally never heard anyone say a bad word about him." And the mayor says, "I like Arne Duncan.

I like Arne Duncan." And then he shows me to the door.

Well, the government came in and said, "Uh, we will take, take away all of that.

You can go ahead and not follow the mandates of No Child Left Behind." Arne Duncan came in by-- He was set by the president, and he told, uh, basically all the school districts, uh, all the states that you didn't have to follow the existing law, which was No Child Left Behind.

Uh, but what you could do is, uh, sign on to these waivers, uh, which promised you money, uh, in return for waiving away your, your, uh, educational rights at your state level.

So since the states were desperate and it was such a desperate situation for No Child Left Behind, the states deci-

They, they, they, and at the same time that Barack Obama was endorsing charter schools.

Shout out Peter Cunningham, the brains behind all that stuff, uh, for Arne Duncan.

And so they just cannot stand it.

And so Barack Obama will endorse anyone.

are not able to come in and change any of the curriculum in the Common Core.

We're only allowed to add an extra 15% according to these documents that were first signed by the states through Arne Duncan.

Remember the waivers back in 2011? So that is something that we have no control over, and the federal government now has complete control over.

This is something that's actually now a major issue in the midterm elections, especially here in California.

Schools reflect society.

And we've got this kind of idealistic, uh, it was the Arne Duncan nonsense.

Uh, he was one of the worst Secretaries of Education ever.

But he would constantly talk about game-changing.

cross-examination.It's an incredible, I mean, and very valuable restoration, I have to say.

God bless President Trump for doing it, because it was Arne Duncan under Barack Obama who wrote that Dear Colleague letter that changed due process rights, eliminated them for anyone accused on college campuses nationwide.

And you're talking about a boy's entire future, his- his college education, being labeled a sex offender for the rest of his life.

And they were told by Barack Obama's administration, you- you can't have a lawyer in there, you can't cross-examine, you have very limited rights to discovery.

Absolutely.

While you were Lieutenant Governor, Worcester Tech had VIP visits from the likes of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Barack Obama, and the late U.S. Secretary of State General Colin Powell.

Could you talk about how those national figures were drawn to the Urban Volk Tech successes in Worcester and what it was like having your leadership honored at the White House and nationwide?

It really was a feather in the cap.