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NOLA, Day 2: The Secretary of Education
This morning at the NSTA convention, President Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke to the assembled educators. It was only words, but they were good words to hear. He referred to the current crises afflicting our economy and educational system as "A Perfect Storm for Reform," because Obama has so much support and is giving so much support to education, because congress is primed for reform, and we have a lot of money available through the stimulus package.
Now, that said, he stressed the importance of not using this availble money just to maintain the status quo, that we need to move education forward. He asserted, in fact, that education is a big piece of the recovery plan, that to some extent we will "educate our way to a better economy." He described NCLB and its implementation as fostering a race to the bottom--with standards set by the states and funding tied to meeting those standards, in many states the bars have been set low, he says. We are not, he says, competing against the people down the street, but the people across the oceans, and therefore the Obama administration plans to peg standards to international benchmarks (as a side note, it's also true that in some cases, we're not just suffering from a lack of education, but from the low wages that can be paid in many sectors in countries like China and India). At the same time, schools will be judged on progress made rather than absolute performance. Teachers--and schools as a whole, including staff as well--will be rewarded for great performance. Drawing applause from the gathering of science teachers, he advocated paying teachers in high-need subject areas like math and science higher salaries in order to be competitive drawing the best math and science minds into teaching instead of other careers where they could make much more. The money will also go to modernizing equipment (especially, considering who he was talking to, science lab equipment).
He also discussed longer school days and longer school years which, as he noted, don't typically draw cheers from students when he speaks to them. It seemed to me that this position was clarified in followup comments he made during the Q&A period. He talked about struggling students who don't have parents actively involved in their lives, who don't get adequate nutrition, and the longer school days allowed those students to receive three meals a day and to be in a safe environment where learning could take place. He advocated for greater parental responsibility, though the details of that plan were lacking. At the same time that he talked about what the government will be doing, he challenged teachers to craft curricula that foster not only higher standards but also a love of learning (in this particular case, a love of science).
Food-wise, I have a couple updates to pass along. Last night, when Lauren's sister arrived, we went out to Canal Street and ended up at New Orleans' House of Blues, where the food was excellent. We didn't eat much, but the Voodoo Shrimp and Rosemary Cornbread appetizer we had was amazing. We got three desserts to share among us and all were great: chocolate cake had something special, the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake (it was a layer of mousse and a layer of cheesecake on a rich chocolate crust) with Raspberry Sauce was excellent, and the White Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding with its caramel halo was positively amazing.
Lunch today found us in the warehouse district at Sun Ray Grill and Aloha Sushi. It was a little off the beaten path from the convention center, and we never would have found it without the convention center staff who directed us to it, but we're glad they did. The Smoking Dragon Dip appetizer I had was incredible, combining smoked salmon, yellowtail and tuna into a seafood salad with chopped egg, avocado, and chives, not to mention whatever spices went into it. Wow. The salmon sashimi was as good as any I've had. Lauren liked her two sushi orders quite well too. The service was delightful.
Dinner found us near Harrah's casino at Grand Isle, which touts its "Fresh Seafood and Cold Beer." We didn't really take advantage of its specialties, however, as we didn't want to spend that much (market price, on most items, is awfully high). Turns out they make a good burger, a good house salad, a good shrimp po-boy, and they have good sweet potatoes too, though they weren't on the menu. The atmosphere was nice and the service was beyond attentive--really top-notch. I'd love to go back there some day when money is no object (yeah right).