Arne Duncan: Why I am optimistic about education in America
During the past 4-1/2 years, and on my recent bus tour of the Southwest, I saw great principals and teachers; courageous leaders from the business, faith, and nonprofit sectors; engaged parents; and communities pulling together to serve students. Education is a shared responsibility.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, answers students' questions during a tour of Emerson Elementary in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 9. In his op-ed, Mr. Duncan writes: 'I am optimistic about our capacity to elevate and strengthen education in America – despite serious challenges....because I have seen students whose grit and passion for getting an education persist under even trying circumstances.'
Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
Earlier this month, my colleagues and I wrapped up a five-day, 1,100-mile back-to-school bus tour of the Southwest. It was exciting, occasionally exhausting, and often exhilarating. But most of all, it was enlightening.
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From New Mexico to Texas, from Arizona to California, we saw firsthand how courageous educators, committed parents, and caring communities can work together to tackle tough educational challenges.
Along the way, we saw states that failed to provide sufficient early-learning opportunities, school districts that lacked access to high-speed broadband Internet service, and families that struggled to pay for college. In one border town, some elementary school students had never held a pencil or book until they started school.
Yet for every challenge, I also saw communities, schools, and visionary leaders pulling together to meet those challenges.
In Arizona, the state is funding preschool in part through tobacco taxes. It’s an innovative idea. In fact, it is the funding model for President Obama’s historic Preschool for All proposal, which would use increased cigarette taxes to extend high-quality preschool to all 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families.
In rural Socorro, N.M., the school district solved the problem of broadband Internet access by
