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President-elect Barack Obama will name Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan as his Secretary of Education at a West Side news conference Tuesday morning, a transition official said.The two men are friends and often play basketball together.Obama is expected to appear with Duncan at the Dodge Renaissance Academy on Tuesday morning.The selection of a Chicagoan for his Cabinet suggests that the president-elect has no intention of turning away from the city during a time when alleged corruption involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made national news, further cementing the state's reputation for political sleaze.Duncan won praise last week during a Chicago visit by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who said she believed the Chicago Public Schools chief had the necessary skills to take her place."I don't want to hurt his chances but I think he's a terrific school leader...and I'm saying this because we have a lot of experience together,'' she said then. "I consider him a fellow reformer and someone who cares deeply about students. I think he'd be a great choice.''A fellow Harvard alum, Duncan was among a group of Chicago friends that Obama played basketball with on the West Side on Election Day. The two have played together for more than a decade.
He is paying off all those political favors to his fellow Chicago cronies.
LINKBecause Chicago Public Schools are doing SO well.
I did some reading up on the guy. Doesn't seem to be to many published statistics since 2006 about Chicago Public Schools and I think he took charge in 2005. But it did show that some initiatives of his has increased school attendance by a bit. *shrugs* I'm not gonna cast any stones till I find out more info first.
Duncan has big job aheadChicago's loss is the nation's gain. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan as his choice for U.S. Secretary of Education today.Word is that Duncan will be tapped at one of his showcase schools, the Dodge Renaissance Academy, one of the first failing schools that he shut down and reopened with great success. As Duncan departs for D.C. -- one of a proud and growing group from Chicago -- he will be remembered most for that effort: a radical program to shut down dozens of failing schools and replace them with 100 new ones.Duncan stumbled while launching the program, dubbed Renaissance 2010. As he closed failing schools, students were dispersed temporarily to other schools for a year or more, stigmatizing many of those kids and leading to a spike in violence at some receiving high schools. Parents, advocates and kids rightly complained and, ultimately, Duncan took heed.Now the transformation occurs over the summer. Kids return to the same school building in the fall but the rest is new -- most of the teachers and other adults, the curriculum and support programs....He is not an ideologue fueled by a belief that there is one single answer to fixing urban schools. Under Renaissance 2010, he has approved a broad range of schools, including an all-boys school, a school based on a Roman Catholic model and a virtual school.More
there do seem to be some things to like about this guy.
The Chicago Public Schools' first high school designed for gay, lesbian and transgender teens is among 20 new schools recommended to the school board today by CPS Chief Arne Duncan.The proposed schools range from technology-focused high schools to the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, which officials said would cater to but not focus exclusively on gay youth.Backers said they envision a small high school offering a college-preparatory curriculum in which students would take four years each of English and math, three years each of foreign languages and science, as well as fine arts and physical education. It would be a performance school, meaning it would have the same staffing and oversight requirements as other district schools.The announcement of the schools, which are expected to open in the fall of 2009 and 2010, took place at the Chicago International Charter School's Ralph Ellison Campus, 1817 W. 80th St. Public hearings on the proposed schools are expected before the Board of Education votes on them Oct. 22."If you look at national studies, you see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates...Studies show they are disproportionately homeless," Duncan said. "I think there is a niche there we need to fill."
Yeah, like the fact that he was a supporter of creating the "Gay School" in Chicago? Remember This? I wonder what niche he thought the gays might fill?
