Meet Your U.S. Secretary Of Education Arne Duncan

Background

President Barack Obama nominated Arne Duncan to be U.S. secretary of education, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009.

Before serving as our nation’s education secretary, Duncan was superintendent of Chicago Public Schools from June 2001 through December 2008.

Duncan has been an advocate of teacher merit pay. Duncan says, “committed young people are attracted to teaching, but surveys show they are reluctant to enter the field for the long-haul. They see it as low-paying and low-prestige.” He says raising teacher salaries will help fill the void.

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February 6, 2012

How Does Arne Duncan Feel About Florida’s New School Ranking System?

Last month, Gov. Rick Scott told the Florida Department of Education to rank all of Florida’s 3,078 schools from best to worst. That list was released last week — to criticism that it relied mostly on FCAT scores and did not take poverty into account. So, my colleague John O’Connor and I wondered how U.S. […]

January 24, 2012

What Obama’s ‘No Child’ Waivers Say About The State Of The Union

Note: This post was written by StateImpact Indiana reporter Kyle Stokes. When President Obama announced a plan in September to allow states to apply for waivers from key requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, he took a shot at Congress. “I’ve urged Congress for a while now — let’s get a bipartisan effort, […]

January 13, 2012

Researchers Defend Study Concluding Teachers Are Overpaid

Remember that study from two conservative think tanks that argued teachers were overpaid by 50 percent? The study concluded that taxpayers were “overcharged” by $120 billion each year. That’s the difference between what teachers are paid in salary and benefits and what they would earn in a comparable private sector job. U.S. Secretary of Education […]

November 15, 2011

Florida Asks For Exemption on NCLB Mandates

Florida is one of 11 states that asked the U.S. Department of Education to waive federal No Child Left Behind provisions. A couple of months ago, President Obama agreed to offer states more flexibility from the federal mandates if states submitted a request showing their commitment to boost student achievement. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, […]

October 14, 2011

White House Says Orange County Schools Need Proposed Jobs Bill

Orange County is a White House poster child for the school renovation money tucked into president Barack Obama’s jobs bill. A White House press release points to a report from the Council on Great City Schools outlining urban school districts’ infrastructure needs. The White House notes that Orange County schools would receive $169.6 million to […]

September 23, 2011

What New ‘No Child Left Behind’ Rules Mean For You

Waiving No Child Left Behind rules will put less emphasis on testing, according to a release from the federal education department. The agency breaks down the impact on the three major parties in the education system. For teachers: ESEA flexibility will move accountability systems toward decisions that are based on student growth and progress. They […]

September 21, 2011

Did Florida Schools Spend Stimulus Money Wisely?

Florida’s largest school districts spent just half the federal stimulus money intended to improve low-income student performance on those programs, according to an investigation by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Instead, districts spent more than $200 million of the $400 million of the money — known as Title I — on employee salaries and […]

September 9, 2011

Five Questions About Florida’s Next Lap in “Race To The Top”

Lawmakers gave a delayed go-ahead this week to compete in the latest round of federal Race to the Top education grants — this time for early childhood education projects. Here’s what to know about the latest version of the federal program to spur education innovation. 1. Another Race to the Top grant? The federal education […]

August 9, 2011

Groups Running Up No Child Left Behind Lobbying Tab

Education groups have spent $47 million lobbying the federal government through the first half of 2011, according to Center for Responsive Politics research, as Congress and the federal education department try to decide how to deal with the long-overdue reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. The group reports that $3 million more was spent on […]