Arne Duncan's March madness

[IndianaGreen]

Arne Duncan's March madness

People like Education Secretary Arne Duncan who moralize about college teams that fail to graduate players usually turn a blind eye to the exploitation of student athletes.

March 26, 2010

EVERY YEAR, as the NCAA basketball tournament parties onto our television screens, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at University of Central Florida doggedly strives to be the turd in the punch bowl.

They release an annual study about the graduation rates of the teams that make it to "the Big Dance." The study's author, Dr. Richard Lapchick, puts the top programs--and by extension the top head coaches--under an unflattering microscope.

But this year, the Lapchick study has received even more attention than usual because Education Secretary Arne Duncan has gotten into the act. Duncan went public after reading the study, saying that teams which fail to graduate 40 percent of their players should be banned from postseason play.

Duncan, who played college basketball, said on March 17, "One out of five men's teams in the NCAA tournament has graduated less than 40 percent of their players in recent years. If you can't manage to graduate two out of five players, how serious are the institution and the coach about their players' academic success? How are you preparing student athletes for life?" (No truth to the rumor Duncan was actually thumping a Bible when he made this statement.)

If Duncan had his way, 12 of the 64 teams this year would be barred, including number 1 seed Kentucky (graduation rate: 31 percent). The lowest performing school is the University of Maryland, with a graduation rate among players measured at 8 percent.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/03/26/arne-duncans-march-madness