Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan
9th United States Secretary of Education
In office
January 21, 2009 – January 1, 2016
President Barack Obama
Deputy Anthony Miller
James Shelton
John King (Acting)
Preceded by Margaret Spellings
Succeeded by John King
Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools
In office
June 26, 2001 – January 21, 2009
Appointed by Richard M. Daley
Preceded by Paul Vallas
Succeeded by Ron Huberman
Personal details
Born (1964-11-06) November 6, 1964
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Harvard University

Arne Duncan (born November 6, 1964) was the United States Secretary of Education from 2009 through early 2016. His tenure as Secretary was marked by controversy. Conservatives and some parents opposed his push for all U.S. states to adopt the Common Core Standards to determine what students had learned, and teachers unions disliked his emphasis on the use of data from student tests to evaluate teachers and schools.[1] When Duncan announced his resignation the president of the AFT teachers union said, "there’s no question that the Department of Education’s fixation on charter schools and high-stakes testing has not worked."[2] Nevertheless, he enjoyed strong support from U.S. President Barack Obama who praised his work as Secretary of Education by saying, "Arne has done more to bring our educational system -- sometimes kicking and screaming -- into the 21st century than anybody else."[3]

Duncan previously served as superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2009.

Early years and education

Duncan was raised in Hyde Park, a Chicago neighborhood encompassing the University of Chicago. He is the son of Susan Goodrich (née Morton) and Starkey Davis Duncan, Jr. His father was a psychology professor at the university and his mother runs the Sue Duncan Children's Center, an after-school program primarily serving African-American youth in the nearby Kenwood neighborhood.

Duncan attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools[4] and later Harvard College, where he played on the basketball team and graduated magna cum laude in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. His senior thesis, for which he took a year's leave to do research in the Kenwood neighborhood, was entitled "The values, aspirations and opportunities of the urban underclass".[5]

Education career

In 1992, childhood friend and investment banker John W. Rogers, Jr., appointed Duncan director of the Ariel Education Initiative, a program mentoring children at one of the city's worst-performing elementary schools and then assisting them as they proceeded further in the education system.[5] After the school closed in 1996, Duncan and Rogers were instrumental in re-opening it as a charter school, Ariel Community Academy.[6] In 1999, Duncan was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.[7]

CEO of Chicago Public Schools

Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Duncan to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools on June 26, 2001.[8] Opinions vary on Duncan's success as CEO; one prominent publication notes improved test scores and describes Duncan as a consensus builder,[9] while another finds the improvements largely a myth and is troubled by the closing of neighborhood schools and their replacement by charter schools, and what it describes as schools' militarization.[10]

U.S. Secretary of Education

Duncan was appointed U.S. Secretary of Education by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2009.[11] One of Duncan's initiatives as secretary has been a $4 billion Race to the Top competition. It asks states to vie for federal education dollars by submitting proposals that include reforms such as expanding charter schools and judging teachers partly on how well their students do on standardized tests.[12] With Duncan now no longer serving as Secretary, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the only remaining member of President Obama's cabinet having served since 2009.

In March 2011, Duncan said 82 percent of the nation’s public schools could be failing by the following year under the standards of the No Child Left Behind law. The projection amounted to a startling spike from previous data, which showed that 37 percent of schools were on track to miss targets set by the law. "Four out of five schools in America would not meet their goals under [No Child Left Behind] by next year", Duncan said in his statement.

On July 4, 2014, the National Education Association, the largest teacher's union in the United States, passed a resolution of "no confidence" in Duncan's leadership of the Department of Education and asked for his resignation.[13]

On July 13, 2014, the American Federation of Teachers approved a resolution calling for Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign if he does not improve under a plan to be implemented by President Barack Obama.[14] The “improvement plan” would require that Secretary Duncan enact the equity and funding recommendations of the Equity Commission’s “Each and Every Child” report; revise the No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top “test-and-punish” system of accountability to a “support-and-improve” structure; and “promote rather than question” teachers and school staff.

On October 2, 2015, Duncan announced he would be stepping down at the close of 2015, to be succeeded by John King, Jr.[15] The media stated his tenure had been marked by a "willingness to plunge head-on into the heated debate about the government's role in education.".[16]

Emerson Collective

In March 2016, Duncan announced he will be joining the Palo Alto-based education group, Emerson Collective, as a managing partner.[17]

Personal life

While in Australia, Duncan met his future wife, Karen Leanne Duncan,[18] a native of Tasmania.[19] Their children, Claire and Ryan (ages 14 and 11), attend a private school in Chicago.[20]

Basketball

Duncan playing in the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game.

While at Harvard, Duncan co-captained the varsity basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American.[4][21] From 1987 to 1991, Duncan played professional basketball, mostly in Australia, with teams including Melbourne's Eastside Spectres, of Australia's National Basketball League.[22] Duncan also participated in the 2012, 2013, and 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Games. Comedian Kevin Hart conceded the 2014 MVP of the celebrity game to Duncan (20 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists).[23][24][25] The 20 points are a Celebrity Game high.

On May 11, 2014, Duncan was a member of the 2014 USA Basketball 3x3 Men's Championship Team. The team of Duncan, Jitim Young, Thomas Darrow and Craig Moore qualified to represent the United States in Moscow, Russia in the 24-country 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championship from June 5–8.[26] Duncan's schedule did not permit him to attend,[27] but the team finished in 9th place in the 24-team tournament.[28]

Criticism

Addressing a group of school superintendents in late 2013, Arne Duncan stated that he found it "fascinating" that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards Initiative came from "white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn't as good as they thought they were."[29] This had sparked outrage among different facets of society, ranging from the "white suburban mom who feel marginalized and misunderstood", the "non-white parent who wants to know why everyone is only now so upset", to the "non-white parent who wants Arne Duncan to know that she (or he) hates the Common Core, too".[30]

References

  1. ↑ Bacon Jr., Perry (2 January 2016). "How Arne Duncan Reshaped American Education and Made Enemies Along the Way". NBC News. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "AFT's Weingarten on Education Secretary Duncan's Resignation" (Press release). American Federation of Teachers. October 2, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Remarks by the President, Secretary Arne Duncan, and Dr. John King in Personnel Announcement" (Press release). The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. October 2, 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 Williams, Carla D. (1984-01-10). "Blue Chip Stock". Thecrimson.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  5. 1 2 "Will Obama's Choice Change Education in America? | Harvard Graduate School of Education". Gse.harvard.edu. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  6. ↑ Young, Lauren (March 2002). "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". SmartMoney. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  7. ↑ "Deputy steps up to schools CEO". Crain's Chicago Business. July 2, 2001.
  8. ↑ "Arne Duncan". Chicago Public Schools. 2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008.
  9. ↑ Kingsbury, Kathleen (December 16, 2008). "Will Arne Duncan Shake Up America's Schools?". Time. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  10. ↑ Brown, Jitu. "Rethinking Schools Online". Rethinkingschools.org. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  11. ↑ "Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education - Biography". .ed.gov. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  12. ↑ "Bill Gates's college tour". The Washington Post.
  13. ↑ Heitin, Liana; Sawchuk, Stephen (July 4, 2014). "NEA Calls for Secretary Duncan's Resignation". Education Week.
  14. ↑ Grasgreen, Allie (July 13, 2014). "Another teachers union ding for Arne Duncan". Politico.
  15. ↑ Eilperin, Juliet; Lyndsey Layton; Emma Brown (2 October 2015). "U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to step down at end of year". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Education Secretary Arne Duncan steps down after 7-year term". Yahoo News. 2 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will help dropouts in violence-plagued Chicago find jobs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Obama". Time. December 2, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  19. ↑ Rintoul, Stuart (18 December 2008). "Aussie lessons for Obama's school tsar Arne Duncane". The Australian.
  20. ↑ "Education Secretary Duncan's children to go to Chicago private school he attended". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
  21. ↑ Sweet, Lynn (December 15, 2008). "Arne Duncan to be named Obama Education Secretary". Chicago Sun-Times.
  22. ↑ "Former NBL star for White House team".
  23. ↑ http://www.nba.com/news/as.celebrity.game/2014-celebrity-game-event-page/index.html?
  24. ↑ Greenberg, Chris (February 24, 2012). "U.S. Secretary Of Education Schools Celebs At Hoops". Huffington Post.
  25. ↑ http://espn.go.com/nba/allstar2014/story/_/page/social-moment-celeb-140214/nba-arne-duncan-outshines-kevin-hart-sprint-celebrity-game
  26. ↑ "USA Basketball Men's And Women's 3x3 World Championship Teams Named Following 2014 USA Basketball 3x3 National Championship". USA Basketball. 2014-05-11. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  27. ↑ Ellenport, Craig (2014-06-03). "Passion For The Game: Arne Duncan". USA Basketball. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  28. ↑ "USA Women Take Gold At 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championship". USA Basketball. 2014-06-08. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  29. ↑ Strauss, Valerie (November 16, 2013). "Arne Duncan: 'White suburban moms' upset that Common Core shows their kids aren't 'brilliant'". The Washington Post.
  30. ↑ "3 Types Of People Outraged By Education Boss' 'White Suburban Moms' Comment". Huffington Post. November 18, 2013.

Also outraged were those who believe in the importance of mastery of English syntax and grammar. They find this remark by an "educator" to be another indication of Duncan's lack of qualifications for the job he held.

External links

Educational offices
Preceded by
Paul Vallas		 Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools
2001–2009 		Succeeded by
Ron Huberman
Political offices
Preceded by
Margaret Spellings		 United States Secretary of Education
2009–2016 		Succeeded by
John King
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