(1) If any of the Republican candidates for president win, I have virtually no chance whatsoever. I honestly cannot fathom ANY of the GOP throne-seekers selecting me. Not Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio (despite my living in Florida since 1999). Not Ben Carson (despite our Detroit roots). Not Chris Christie (despite our both being on the somewhat hefty side). Not Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, or Rand Paul. And definitely not Donald Trump.
(1a) Maybe John Kasich. But who am I kidding? He hasn't got a chance in hell of winning.
(2) I don't have a chance if Hillary Clinton wins, either. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and HRC have been longtime friends; she was head of New York's United Federation of Teachers when Clinton was a senator from the same state, and Weingarten is on the board of Priorities USA Action, a Super PAC which is supporting the former first lady's White House campaign.
Which means the only realistic chance I have of achieving this appointed position is if Bernie Sanders wins the whole thing.
I suspect, even if Sanders were to win in November, I have a few other minor issues to deal with:
(1) I am neither a principal nor a superintendent; in particular, I am not an administrator which has taken over a low-achieving school/district and turned it into a not-so-low-achieving school/district. I do run a pretty solid high school debate team, but they were achieving when I took over the Wellington High School program in 2002, and have continued to achieve, so I'm not sure I can use this as a selling point to move up to secretary of the USDOE.
(2) I don't know enough people outside of my school and the debate coaching world. I'm not a mover and shaker; I'm not a Type A personality. If anything, I'm more of a wallflower. I don't go to local or regional shindigs and press the palm with other movers and shakers in the education and/or political world. And it's really difficult to climb up the political ladder when you don't know people who can help me climb more than a step-stool.
(3) I'm not an ass-kisser. There, I said it. I've argued against administrative micromanagement in the past. I've posted rants on Facebook, Twitter, and this blog. I've written letters and memos of concern. I've barely paid attention in many a Learning Team Meeting lecture/seminar. I've written many a state legislator about unfair and/or ineffective education and/or educator mandates. I've ignored or amended directives which I have found to be obtuse or misguided. I'm sure my personnel file has several less than positive items about classroom management or other education-related issues.
But let's play "Let's Pretend," and assume - for the moment - that (a) Sanders wins, (b) he thinks my resume is good enough, and (c) I do well in the interview process. I'm sure I would be asked about a number of hot-topic education ideas. Here's my platform, in a nutshell:
- No to an over-reliance on standardized testing. There have been numerous studies presented on why standardized testing is a poor indicator of both student learning and teacher success, including this op-ed piece out of Los Angeles and this article from The Atlantic.
- No to private charter schools funded with taxpayer dollars.
- No to Common Core.
- No to the horrible No Child Left Behind or its bastard replacement, Every Student Succeeds.
- No to unfunded state mandates.
So while I will be shipping my resume off to the Sanders campaign soon, I am openly doubtful my quest to change public education nationally for the better will happen. But it would be fun to try and bring about some positive changes in the education system, and change the way the USDOE has operated since it was created in 1979.
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