President- Elect Barack Obama has selected Arne Duncan, Superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, as his Secretary of Education. Duncan has worked in the Chicago district since 1998 and has been Superintendent since 2001. Under his leadership, the district opened dozens of small schools, and student test scores and graduation rates have risen.  Duncan championed Renaissance 2010, a program in which he closed struggling schools and forced the staff to reapply for their positions.

Some Chicagoan proponents of the city’s 20-year-old Local School Council system – which gave power to neighborhood voices – have protested a steady push under Duncan to bring some controls back to the central office.  Duncan also helped craft a five-year teacher contract that promised significant raises each year in exchange for long-term stability.

Duncan, who has been described as viewing education as a civil rights issue, has been working for several years to expand the early childhood opportunities in the Chicago Public Schools, increasing enrollment opportunities for 3-and 4-year-olds by 1,000 places or more each year. He has suggested that the No Child Left Behind school accountability law be made more flexible, but does not recommend that it be dismantled.

According to the Chicago Tribune, “Duncan has gained a reputation as a reformer who isn’t afraid to rankle the teachers union or punish underperforming schools. His decisions to pay students for good grades, back an unrealized plan for a gay-friendly high school and consider boarding schools often polarized the community while bolstering his renegade image.”

Other news coverage has focused on Duncan’s “conciliatory” nature and his support of both accountability and union-friendly initiatives (he received praise recently from Randi Weingarten, Paul Vallas and Margaret Spellings).  Papers have also mentioned that Duncan is a good friend of the Obamas and played basketball with the President-Elect on Election Day. Duncan also played professional basketball in Australia for four years after he graduated from Harvard University. He has little teaching experience, though he has spent some time tutoring.

Coverage:
Duncan to join Obama Cabinet
CHICAGO TRIBUNE – DEC. 16, 2008

Obama to tap Chicago schools chief for Education post
USA TODAY – DEC. 16, 2008

Schools Chief From Chicago Is Cabinet Pick
NY TIMES – DEC. 15, 2008