Friday, August 7, 2009

Is Arne Duncan Destroying the Obama Brand?


Education blogs today were transfixed by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan's gushing appreciation for the New York Post's contribution to the mayoral control debate here in NYC.

From the Post's story:

Arne Duncan, the US secretary of education, lauded The Post's coverage.

"I appreciate your paper's leadership. I appreciate the thoughtfulness. You guys did a lot of work on [the mayoral-control issue]," Duncan said.

Gotham Schools has a genuinely thoughtful analysis entitled "The Fruitful Alliance of Arne Duncan and Rupert Murdoch" including some great quotes from incredulous education and journalism insiders.

NYC Educator's scathing commentary dismisses Duncan as "cheerleader for the Bloomberg PR machine".

The President ought to watch his back. The Post's circulation dropped 21% this year. With his own numbers headed south as well, he might want to suggest his Education Secretary find some new friends.