Secretary of Education Visits Kennedy High School

hosted a short question-and-answer session and visit to the school's with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Wednesday afternoon.

Duncan, joined by Congressman Chris Van Hollen, County Executive Ike Leggett and Board of Education President Chris Barclay, spoke about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main spending bill for public education.

In the forum about ESEA, Sec. Duncan answered questions about the Department’s policy and what they were looking for in the new version of the bill.

Kennedy’s principal, Eric Minus, who is finishing up said he was honored that have Kennedy chosen to be one of the townhall locations.

“I have lots of questions,” Minus said about the upcoming bill, “But for me, it’s more important to listen to what’s being said today, to be clear what the upcoming agenda is.”

Duncan and Congressmen Van Hollen did most of the answering, with questions from Kennedy PTA President Jean Hickey, MCCPTA President Kristen Trible, and Kennedy senior Mikasa Russell, and a few others.

Russell said she was definitely well-prepared.  “Dr. Minus and I spent 40 minutes going back and forth about my question,” she said.

The Leadership Training Institute student asked Sec. Duncan how the new authorization would affect the mindset of students who aim for the minimum and conversely how it would affect students who were extremely motivated.

Duncan took her question to note that with the current national high school graduation rate, students “aren’t buying what we’re selling”, and suggested that the low expectation of adults, especially for students in poverty, was partially to blame.

“We need to raise the bar,” He said, “ Because when we do, we usually meet it.”

Bonnie Cullison, Delegate for District 19, a few moments later said, “You should ask students what motivates them.”

While the forum was well attended, with the exception of Russell and a young man representing the Young Democrats of Maryland, few students were in the audience.

In a press conference afterwards, Van Hollen noted that the way that Adequate Yearly Progress, the state-run testing that defines a school’s success against the 2001 version of the bill, often called No Child Left Behind, would likely be changed.

“I think there’s consensus that we need to move to a growth model where you can see how students are improving over time,” Van Hollen said.