Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, head of that city's 400,000-student public school system, enjoys a reputation as an aggressive reformer who's not allergic to compromise and collaboration -- no bull in the education china shop, but a proven leader with broad support from diverse education camps, and someone with deeply knit connections to Obama and his Chicago circle. Notably, Duncan served within the Chicago schools for years before being tapped to lead them, unlike other Education Secretary possibles Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee, who entered school leadership as outsiders. Stories in the Times, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Sun Times broadly profile Duncan's career, which includes being the longest-serving big-city schools chief in the country, no small potatoes, and a stint playing pro-basketball in Australia. (One has to wonder about impromptu Cabinet meetings on the half-court.)
Duncan has the support of outgoing Education Secretary Margaret Spellings as well, which contributes to his long (6'5") reach across administrations and party boundaries. Prime on his plate is revising No Child Left Behind, Bush's signature education reform, with the staggering economy for a side dish: Read the two-page ad published in today's New York Times, signed by the big brass of the Carnegie Foundation and dozens of public-college and -university leaders, virtual hat in hand, respectfully begging for 5 percent of the national bailout funds for public higher ed. institutions -- which, for all the private-college hoopla, educate about 80 percent of American college students. (We'll post a link to the statement when Carnegie makes it available; the Times doesn't link to ads.) And don't miss Governor Paterson's proposal to expand student loans -- whether the motivation is intra-state competitiveness, as he suggests, or a basic obligation to support our own kids as they earn the degrees we've begged them to focus on all their young lives, more funds means more college for more kids -- even if it means a debt-burdened future along with a sheepskin.
Finally, watch this space for our student blogger Toni's open letter to Arne Duncan, which we will post later today: As a high school student facing college and an eventual Grown Up Life, she's got plenty to say.
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