The following exchange took place on a teleconference with reporters hosted by the White House last week on education reform. On that call Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke with the media about the president's plan to overhaul student loans and to make college more affordable.
But one West Coast reporter threw the Secretary a curve and asked this:
"With at least three suicides of kids taunted by (anti-)gay slurs just in the past month, what specific plans do you have to make schools safer for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and other students?"
Secretary Duncan's response:
"Obviously that's a different topic, but the more we're teaching tolerance, the more we create climates that are inclusive and where students are listened to and supported, that is critically important to do that. And I want to do whatever I can to foster those environments that are not hostile and where students feel supported and have a chance to be who they are, to not be threatened, to not be bullied and to be in a situation not only where they feel comfortable but also where they can be very very successful academically."
Obviously, Secretary Duncan didn't answer the question entirely. He avoided providing the details for which the reporter asked. Thankfully, however, he didn't resort to re-hashing his 2003 proposal as Chicago Public Schools CEO to create an LGBT high school into which the city's self-identified LGBT students could be moved. Though his intentions then were good – he wanted to help create an environment in which LGBT students could thrive, succeed, feel safe and "to be who they are" – everyone from LGBT activists to the city's mayor saw the proposal as little more than segregating LGBT kids.
To be fair, after Duncan's meeting with LGBT student activists earlier this month, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Executive Director Eliza Byard told ChicagoPride.com that "Secretary Duncan showed great compassion for their experiences, respect for their perseverance and dedication to identifying effective responses to school climate issues. I am confident that we will see growing engagement with these issues at the Department of Education and truly positive change."
More than Secretary Duncan's personal gaffes on and history with this issue is the urgent need for clear national policies on bullying aimed at LGBT kids.
A hopeful sign is Secretary Duncan's obvious deep concern for America's kids. One would expect any Education Secretary of any political party to express disapproval of bullying in schools. But Duncan's comment went beyond just promoting safety. He asserted his concern that LGBT kids could thrive in a supportive environment that allows them to "be who they are," not ignored, not simply tolerated.
Such an environment should exist in every public school.
As the campaign heats up to pressure Congress to pass hate crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation and identity as protected categories, Duncan's comment is timely. His statement on protecting LGBT kids and creating a nurturing space lays a new philosophical groundwork for an effective policy, even as Republicans stake their opposition to a new hate crimes law on the archaic and cruel notion that hate-based violence is protected by free speech rights.
It's time that Secretary Duncan's enlightened remarks be turned into substantive national policy.
