Obama Evaluating Early Childhood Education Push In Second Term
Arne Duncan, President Barack Obama's education secretary, has a slogan that summarizes his tenure and the view of his mission that he shares with his boss. "Education is the civil rights issue of our generation," Duncan says.
Maybe so, but if Duncan is right, the country remains very far from being "free at last" -- and the president faces mighty challenges in leading us to the mountaintop in his second term. Ironically, as Obama begins anew, it is the civil rights community that is raising some of the most urgent questions about Duncan's ideas for education reform.
Despite the administration's emphasis on raising standards, tremendous performance gaps still persist between different ethnic groups. Black students in particular are not improving their upper-grade test scores as quickly as
Maybe so, but if Duncan is right, the country remains very far from being "free at last" -- and the president faces mighty challenges in leading us to the mountaintop in his second term. Ironically, as Obama begins anew, it is the civil rights community that is raising some of the most urgent questions about Duncan's ideas for education reform.
Despite the administration's emphasis on raising standards, tremendous performance gaps still persist between different ethnic groups. Black students in particular are not improving their upper-grade test scores as quickly as
Duncan On Guns In Schools: Hard To Teach Kids Scared Of Being Killed
By PHILIP ELLIOTT 01/17/13 06:25 PM ET EST 
WASHINGTON -- Too many students worry more about being killed by a gun than learning in the classroom, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on Thursday, as he cautioned that firearms alone do not make schools safer.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Duncan said that he understands the urgent concerns over school safety in the wake of last month's shooting in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 students dead. He called the 23 executive orders that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday a move in the correct direction but emphasized tha
