Duncan Fields Tough Questions in Community Forum
Congress is moving slowly on renewing the No Child Left Behind Act (I think we can all agree the Senate has blown its Easter deadline). But U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is still trying to get suggestions from the field, and grease the wheels for renewal, by holding community forums with lawmakers back in their home districts.
Today, for instance, he was at John F. Kennedy High School in Montgomery County, Md., along with Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry Weast, whose district was nominated for the Broad Prize in Urban Education. Also on hand: Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who represents the district in Congress.
The questions from the community were pretty tough.
*A parent noted that Maryland had won a federal grant in the Race to the Top competition and would use part of the money for tests in line with a nationwide push for common academic standards. She asked what would happen when