Interviewing the Secretary of Education

One of the highlights of Education Nation for me was having the opportunity to sit down with a close supporter of Mom Congress, who also happens to be the Secretary of Education. On Day 2 of Education Nation, I had the opportunity to sit down with Arne Duncan, which was an honor and a privilege. Leading up to Education Nation, I have been thinking about the recent release in Education Next of the comparison of PISA scores with state-by-state rankings. I even wrote about it here, saying how excited I was to discuss this issue further at Education Nation. So when I had the chance to ask Secretary Duncan a question, I knew it wanted to be about those rankings. I asked, in the wake of PISA demonstrating how poorly we are doing compared to other first-world countries, what can we learn from states like Massachusetts, who, when the states are broken down and put into the PISA rankings, have surpassed the rest of us education-wise? What are they doing right that other states can do, too?

(excuse the wobble and background noise; we were on top of a skating rink after all!)

I appreciated his recognition of Mom Congress, not just as a side note but as part of his response. Advocacy and particularly parent advocacy is a huge part of how we will be able to achieve educational reform in this country. In order to effect change, we as parents need to understand and take advantage of the power of our own voices. We also need to come together and, through our experiences and collective knowledge, we must figure out what it is our schools need in order to give our children the education they deserve. This is why I love Mom Congress and groups like the National Association for Gifted Children; these organizations make advocacy possible for busy parents. They help us keep track of issues in education and what’s being done about those issues. Mom Congress is not just a gathering of parents but specifically of intelligent, proactive women who are  passionate about educational reform and dedicated to better understanding the problems that are getting in the way of the United States ranking #1 in the PISA report.

Thank you, Secretary Duncan, for making time in your schedule to meet with us and for providing me with encouragement and food for thought.