Leaning Out: How Michelle Obama became a feminist nightmare.

Last Tuesday, when Michelle Obama took a fashionably shod toe and dipped it into her husband’s efforts to address the nation’s higher-ed gap, the move was greeted by some feminists with a relieved, “It’s about damn time!”

Here, finally, was an issue worthy of the Ivy-educated, blue-chip law firm-trained first lady, a departure from the safely, soothingly domestic causes she had previously embraced. Gardening? Tending wounded soldiers? Reading to children? “She essentially became the English lady of the manor, Tory Party, circa 1830s,” feminist Linda Hirshman says.

Speaking last week at Bell Multicultural High School, a couple of miles north of the White House, the first lady touted the importance of a college degree, citing her own journey from a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side to Princeton as evidence of how far hard work and good schooling can take you. “I’m here today because I want you to know that my story can be your story,” she told the predominantly low-income, heavily minority student body.

The personal plea was part of a glitzy rollout for a new administration initiative. Working with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the first lady will become an “ambassador” for the new “North Star” program meant to make the United States the global leader in the percentage of young people it propels through college (we currently rank 12th, according to the White House), with special outreach to communities on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Via: Politico Magazine

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Updated: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan apologizes for “white suburban moms” remark

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan brought a firestorm of criticism on himself over the weekend, after remarking on Friday that “white suburban moms” oppose the Common Core standard in schools because they discovered “their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were” — and now he’s apologizing.

Duncan’s remarks came at an event for state superintendents of education. The Secretary was apparently attempting to convey that many people don’t anticipate the high achievement requirements in the Common Core standards, and are therefore startled when students underperform their expectations.

“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary,” Duncan said, according to The Washington Post. “You’ve bet your house and where you live and everything on, ‘My child’s going to be prepared.’ That can be a punch in the gut.”

He added that students were now competing on an international academic playing field, instead of just nationally.

Duncan apologized on Monday for his comments.

“My wording, my phrasing, was a little clumsy and I apologize for that,” he told CNN.

He reiterated that his point was to convey the higher standards of achievement that are need to compete in a  ”globally competitive work force.”

Duncan’s remarks received scattered press coverage, and the media focused on his dramatic-sounding — and definitely offensive — quote while leaving out the necessary context: agree or disagree with Common Core, American kids could seem ‘less brilliant’ when compared internationally. Comparison of test scores internationally is incredibly complex and there are many factors to consider, but at face value — what parents are likely to see of the data — Duncan’s statement has a ring of truth. Plus, the second half of his quote clearly reveals his concern for parents who are worried about their child’s success.

Via: Red Alert Politics

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