President-elect Obama named Chicago public schools
Superintendent Arne Duncan to be his Education secretary, hailing Duncan’s
record of improving schools in the city.
Obama said that, as the economy continues to falter,
education is “the single biggest determinant of how our economy does
long-term.”
{mosads}Obama praised his longtime friend Duncan as someone who
recognizes that “the path to jobs and growth begins in America’s classrooms.”
“In the next few years, the decisions we make about how
to educate our children will shape our future for generations to come,” Obama
said. “They will determine not just whether our children have the chance to
fulfill their God-given potential, or whether our workers have the chance to
build a better life for their families, but whether we, as a nation, will
remain in the 21st century, the kind of global economic leader that we were in
the 20th.”
He added that, “at a time when companies can plant jobs
wherever there’s an Internet connection, and two-thirds of all new jobs require
a higher education or advanced training, if we want to out-compete the world
tomorrow, we must out-educate the world today.”
Duncan, who has been chief operating officer of the
Chicago public school system for the past seven years, said during the press
conference that even with all the challenges confronting the president-elect,
he believes that “no issue is more pressing than education.”
“It is the civil rights issue of our generation,” Duncan
stated.
As he talked about the need to improve failing schools
around the country, Duncan boasted that in Chicago, “we’re on a winning
streak.”
Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School
Boards Association (NSBA), said in a statement Tuesday morning that the group
is “gratified and encouraged” by Obama’s selection of Duncan.
“Duncan represents the best of what urban school
districts have to offer and will likely open doors to continuing conversations
around the state of public education,” Bryant stated.
The appointment of Duncan, a one-time professional
basketball player in Australia, led Obama to quip that he is building “the best
basketball-playing Cabinet in American history.”
The president-elect, for the second day in a row,
declined to answer questions about reports that his incoming chief of staff,
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), provided a list of acceptable names for his Senate
replacement to embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).
Obama maintains that neither he nor his staff had any
“inappropriate contact” with Blagojevich or his staff, but he has declined to
elaborate, citing a request of the U.S. attorney’s office.
The transition team’s internal review of contact between
its staff and Blagojevich’s is being kept under wraps until at least Dec. 22.
Obama also declined to say whether he favors a special
election to replace him in the Senate, noting only that Blagojevich has lost
the power to be effective.