Arne Duncan to step down as education secretary
WASHINGTON — Arne Duncan, who followed President Barack Obama to Washington to serve as his education secretary, announced Friday he will step down following a sevenyear tenure marked by a willingness to plunge headon into the heated debate about the government’s role in education.
One of the longest-serving Cabinet members, Duncan is among the few who have formed close personal relationships with the president. After Duncan’s departure in December, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be the sole member of Obama’s Cabinet still in his original role.
Obama described Duncan as one of the most consequential secretaries in the department’s history and said Duncan delivered at every stage of learning. During his tenure, more than 30 states increased their investment in early childhood education, states raised standards for teaching and learning, and high school graduation rates reached an all-time high, Obama said.
“Arne’s done more to bring our educational system, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the 21st century than anybody else,” Obama said.
Duncan plans to return to Chicago, where his family is living, with his future plans uncertain.
“Being apart from my family has become too much of a strain, and it is time for me to step aside and give a new leader a chance,” Duncan said in an email to staff obtained by The Associated Press.
Duncan joined Obama at a news conference at the White House to announce the move. He choked up when talking about his par- ents, who were both educators in Chicago.
“All our life we saw what kids could do when they were given a chance. That’s why we do this work today,” Duncan said.
In an unconventional move, Obama asked John King Jr., a senior Education Department official, to oversee the department but declined to nominate him to be secretary, which would require confirmation by the Republican-run Senate. Elevating King in an acting capacity spares Obama a potential clash with Senate Republicans over his education policies as his term draws to a close.
Duncan’s tenure coincided with a roiling debate about perceived federal overreach into schools that remains a potent issue as he leaves office. Navigating a delicate divide, Duncan sought to use the federal government’s leverage to entice states to follow Washington’s approach to higher standards, prompting resistance from all sides.
On the right, Republicans and state leaders accused Duncan of a heavyhanded federal approach that sidestepped lawmakers and enforced top-down policies on local schools. Critics blasted the department for linking federal dollars to state adoption of standards such as the Com- mon Core, a controversial set of curriculum guidelines.
On the left, Duncan clashed over policy with teachers unions. Traditionally reliable Democratic allies, labor leaders bristled at his strong support for charter schools and the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers.
Duncan stood firmly behind federal standardized testing requirements, even as he handed out waivers exempting states from George W. Bush-era requirements under No Child Left Behind. Duncan cast the federal testing as a civil rights issue, critical to making schools ensure that students of all races and backgrounds succeed. The Education Department pointed to statistics showing the high school graduation rate under Duncan hit a new high of 81 percent.
Part of the Chicago cohort that converged on Washington after Obama’s election, Duncan previously ran the Chicago public school system, although he never worked as a teacher.
“Arne Duncan was one of the president’s best appointments,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who, as chairman of the Senate’s education panel, frequently clashed with Duncan as chairman of the Senate’s education panel.