Arne Duncan
| Arne Duncan | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 21, 2009 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
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| Deputy | Anthony Miller |
| Preceded by | Margaret Spellings |
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Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools
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| In office June 26, 2001 – January 21, 2009 |
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| Appointed by | Richard Daley |
| Preceded by | Paul Vallas |
| Succeeded by | Ron Huberman |
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| Born | November 6, 1964 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
Arne Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American education administrator and currently United States Secretary of Education. Duncan previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.
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[edit] Early years and personal
Duncan was raised in Hyde Park, a Chicago neighborhood encompassing the University of Chicago. His father Starkey Duncan was a psychology professor at the university and his mother Susan Morton runs the Sue Duncan Children's Center, an after-school program primarily serving African-American youth in the nearby Kenwood neighborhood. While growing up, Duncan spent much of his free time at his mother's center tutoring or playing with students there. Some of his childhood friends were John W. Rogers, Jr., CEO of Ariel Capital Management (now Ariel Investments) and founder of the Ariel Community Academy, Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, singer R. Kelly and award-winning martial artist Michelle Gordon.
Duncan attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools[1] and later Harvard University, where he 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 Kenwood, in inner-city Chicago, was entitled The values, aspirations and opportunities of the urban underclass.[2]
While at Harvard, Duncan co-captained the varsity basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American.[1][3] From 1987 to 1991, Duncan played professional basketball, mostly in Australia, with teams including Melbourne's Eastside Spectres, of Australia's National Basketball League.[4]
While in Australia, Duncan met his future wife, now Karen Luann Duncan.[5] They live in Arlington, Virginia, and have a daughter and son who attend elementary school there.[6]
[edit] 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.[7] After the school closed in 1996, Duncan and Rogers were instrumental in re-opening it as a charter school, Ariel Community Academy.[8] In 1999, Duncan was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.[9]
[edit] Chicago public schools CEO
Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Duncan to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools on June 26, 2001.[10] Opinions vary on Duncan's success as CEO; one prominent publication notes improved test scores and describes Duncan as a consensus builder,[11] 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.[12]
[edit] Secretary of Education
Duncan was appointed U.S. Secretary of Education by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2009.[13] One of Duncan's well-known 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.[14] Duncan sends his own children to public schools.[15] In March 2011 Duncan said 82 percent of the nation’s public schools could be failing by next year under the standards of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. The projection amounts to a startling spike from current data, which shows that 37 percent of schools are on track to miss targets set by the law. He said “Four out of five schools in America would not meet their goals under [No Child Left Behind] by next year,” Duncan said in his opening statement. “This is why we have to fix the law now. Nobody can support inaction and maintain the status quo.”[16]
[edit] NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
On February 18, 2011, Secretary Duncan played in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game as a member of the East Team, winning against the West 54-49.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Blue Chip Stock
- ^ [1]
- ^ Sweet, Lynn (December 15, 2008). "Arne Duncan to be named Obama Education Secretary". Chicago Sun-Times. http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/12/arne_duncan_to_be_named_obama.html.
- ^ "Former NBL star for White House team". http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2448221.htm.
- ^ "Obama". Time. December 2, 2008. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1863062_1863058_1867011,00.html. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ http://www.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/duncan.html
- ^ [2]
- ^ Young, Lauren (March 2002). "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". SmartMoney. http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/mutual-funds/mr-rogers-neighborhood-12405/. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ "Deputy steps up to schools CEO". Crain's Chicago Business. July 2, 2001. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-76162789.html.
- ^ "Arne Duncan". Chicago Public Schools. 2008. http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/At-a-glance/Pages/ArneDuncan.aspx.
- ^ Kingsbury, Kathleen (December 16, 2008). "Will Arne Duncan Shake Up America's Schools?". Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1866783,00.html. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ "Bill Gates's college tour". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/l-gates-on-a-his-college-tour.html.
- ^ [5]
- ^ Duncan: Change Bush 'No Child' law
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arne Duncan |
- United States Department of Education bio
- The Sue Duncan Children's Center
- Arne Duncan at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Arne Duncan on Charlie Rose
- Arne Duncan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Works by or about Arne Duncan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| 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 Served under: Barack Obama 2009–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy |
Order of Precedence of the United States Secretary of Education |
Succeeded by Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
| United States presidential line of succession | ||
| Preceded by Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy |
16th in line Secretary of Education |
Succeeded by Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
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