Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools CEO, has been picked as President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of Education, NYT is reporting:
Arne Duncan, the Chicago schools superintendent known for taking tough steps to improve schools while maintaining respectful relations with teachers and their unions, is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as secretary of education, Democratic officials said Monday.
Mr. Duncan, a 44-year-old Harvard graduate, has raised achievement in the nation’s third-largest school district and often faced the ticklish challenge of shuttering failing schools and replacing ineffective teachers, usually with improved results.
He represents a compromise choice in the debate that has divided Democrats in recent months over the proper course for public-school policy after the Bush years.
Arne Duncan, Barack Obama's Education Secretary (Image: CBS)
Duncan who usually plays basketball with Barack Obama visited Education Department in Washington and met with outgoing Secretary Margaret Spellings earlier in December. But at the time, he denied his Washington trip having anything to do with the possibility of being chosen to serve in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet.
