U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined Mayor Bloomberg and outgoing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein this morning for a presser on the GED, and, of course, was asked about Klein's controversial replacement, former media exec Cathie Black, with whom he was slated to meet. Here's what Duncan had to say:
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan
Q: What do you think about Cathie Black?
Duncan: "I'm a huge fan of Joel Klein. He's done an amazing job. And her challenge and the opportunity is to take public education here to the next level. And I'm going to do whatever I can to be supportive of her in doing that, and I, there's a lot of easier things she could have chosen to do. For her to have the courage to step up and do this work, I think tells you something about her character."
Q: What about bringing in someone with such an unconventional background who hasn't worked in either the public sector or education? What are the challenges for them?
Duncan: "There are challenges whether you're conventional or unconventional. Anyone coming to this job has a huge learning curve. I will say in Chicago I worked for the previous superintendent before I got the job for 2-1/2 years. I sort of thought I knew it, and I got there, I had no idea how big my learning curve was. So she like anyone else has a, has a, you know, a learning curve. She's smart. She's committed. She's going to have a great team. And this is a, is not just about Cathie, it's about the entire city rallying to make this the best urban
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/12/arne-duncans-high-hopes-for-ca.html#ixzz17eDu8uQh