Education Secretary plays the race card

Education Secretary Arne Duncan was in Selma on Monday to commemorate the civil rights march that took place there. In a speech, Duncan said that the problems plaguing our public schools weren't due to teachers unions or low standards, but too much discipline against African-American students.

In a speech commemorating the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” civil rights protest in Selma, Ala., Education Secretary Arne Duncan referred to certain failing public schools in America as “dropout factories” and places that “seem to suspend and discipline only young African-American boys.”

“The achievement gap in our country is shameful,” Duncan said on Monday. He said some public schools are discriminating against students because of their race, gender, or disability by limiting their access to advanced and college preparatory classes. “Fifty-six years after Brown v. Board of Education, 45 years after Bloody Sunday, the achievement gap is still a cancer that imperils our national progress.”

Duncan is acting on behalf of teachers' unions like the National Education Association which want to see more federal prosecutions under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VI forbids institutions receiving federal assistance to discriminate on the basis of race, particularly schools. Duncan's words mirror the actions of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, which has aggressively prosecuted alleged cases of discrimination. If Duncan gets his way, the result could be an increase in civil rights prosecutions against schools. Schools could be targeted if Duncan feels that too many black children are being disciplined there, for example.

Before coming to Washington, Duncan was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools under Governor Rod Blagojevich. The CPS ranked 49th out of 50th in state-by-state ratings.