Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Should Politicians Be Running Schools?

Mayor Richard Daley took control of the Chicago Public School system 13 years ago, creating a controversial model that would soon be duplicated in other large cities across the country. I read with interest this article about the newest appointment to the CEO position at CPS, Ron Huberman, who replaced outgoing Arne Duncan. Duncan was named Secretary of Education by President Obama.

The title question of this post is relevant in Berwyn where some feel our city leaders should take a more active role in the education systems and others feel strongly that politicians should leave our schools in the control of elected school board members and educators. Politically, it would seem risky for any mayor to become involved in an underfunded, failing school district. It seems to have worked out for Daley, though.

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