Teaching Profession

NEA Demands Say Over Qualifications for U.S. Education Secretary

By Stephen Sawchuk — July 06, 2016 1 min read
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Washington

The National Education Association plans to draft a list of the qualifications that the next U.S. Secretary of Education should have.

The list would be sent to the presidential candidates, as well as the members of the Senate, which confirms cabinet-level picks.

That’s according to the latest New Business Item, no. 45, that delegates passed at the NEA’s annual convention here. The item specifies that the new secretary of education should have “formal training in education, experience as a public school educator, and no financial, employment, or positions supporting the education privatization industry.”

Delegates took turns slamming several former education secretaries, notably Arne Duncan and Rod Paige, with several saying they didn’t have appropriate education backgrounds. (Duncan had been the Chicago schools CEO and Paige was a Houston superintendent, so some of this rancor seems to be rooted in dislike of their policies rather than concern about their backgrounds.)

Meanwhile, wondering what an NBI is and how it works? Check out our backgrounder.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.