Arne Duncan with Eli Broad at the pre-ball dinner hosted by Broad
at the Inauguration Ball of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.
Arne Duncan and The Broad Foundation
This is an except from a longer article on this blog originally published on February 24, 2013 and updated numerous times: Who is Eli Broad and why is he trying to destroy public education?
Strong American Schools
In 2007, the Broad Foundation teamed with the Gates Foundation to create Strong American Schools. Founded by Eli Broad, the Gates Foundation contributed $60 million towards “a nonpartisan campaign aimed at elevating American education to the top of the presidential campaign agenda between now and November 2008. Strong American Schools is a public awareness and action campaign designed to give a voice to every American who demands strong leadership to improve our schools.”
With the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, Arne Duncan, until then a Broad Foundation Board member (The 2009/2010 Annual Report of the Broad Foundation, page 25), was appointed Secretary of Education. The 2009/2010 Annual Report of the Broad Foundation (Page 5) states:
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned.
With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
Of Arne Duncan, the 2009/2010 Broad Annual Report states (Page 10):
Prior to becoming U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where he hosted 23 Broad Residents. Duncan now has five Broad Residents and alumni working with him in the U.S. Department of Education.
Since becoming Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan continues his association with the Broad Foundation in venues such as, for several years, presenting the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education that awards $1 million to five urban districts to be used for college scholarships for graduating seniors. Prizes are awarded based on criteria set by the Broad Foundation based on its goal of privatizing public education. He is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Margaret Spellings, who was Secretary of Education in the second G. W. Bush administration and also participated in the awarding of the Broad Prize for Urban Education. (See the 2008 Broad Foundation Annual Report, pages 13 - 15.)