Duncan Caused Stir With Plan for High School for Gays

[Natasha]

Duncan Caused Stir With Plan for High School for Gays

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/12/16/duncan-caused-stir-with-plan-for-high-school-for-gays/
Brad Haynes
12/16/2008


In selecting Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan as his education secretary Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama aimed to satisfy the interests of reform-minded activists and the powerful teachers' unions with an open-minded official.

But Duncan's openness to new ideas caused a stir in Chicago just last month when he proposed a high school designed for gay students. Aimed at keeping students from being bullied and ostracized, Duncan pitched the idea of an explicitly gay-friendly school, where half of the students were expected to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

[Kaelin]

I'd be interested in quizzing Duncan on the issue, but segregating doesn't fix the problems.  It's going to take confronting the retrograde parents and forcing kids to actually tolerate each other if they are going to participate in the public school system.

[lisagurl]

What you get is bold change not necessarily change for the better.