He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real
John B. King, Jr. settled into the rocking chair before a group of cross-legged kindergartners and fielded a question from a little boy.
“Wait, are you a president?” the boy asked the grown-up in the grey suit, who was escorted into their small classroom at JoAnn Leleck Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md., by an army of photographers, cameramen, reporters and assorted school and county officials.
“No, but I work for the president,” King said with a smile. “He’s very nice.”
King is the nation’s acting education secretary, replacing Arne Duncan, who relinquished the job last week after seven years as one of the most influential policy makers for the country’s 100,000 public K-12 schools.
King, who turned 41 on Tuesday, will retain the “acting” modifier for the rest of Obama’s time in office. He has not been nominated by the president, and he will not undergo the confirmation process required of most Cabinet-level officers under the Constitution.
Acting Education Secretary John King, Jr., sits on the floor to play with students at JoAnn Leleck Elementary School, on Jan. 5, 2016, in Silver Spring, Md. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
“Decisions around nominations are decisions for the president to make,” King said, when asked if his “acting” status will make it more difficult for him to execute his duties. “I will say the authorities of the acting secretary are the same as authorities of the secretary.”
Republican Congressional leaders in both the Senate and the House say they want King to undergo the vetting process.
“I personally recommended to President Obama in December that he nominate a Secretary of Education and that, if he did, our education committee would consider him or her in January and that — barring some sort of ethical lapse found in the confirmation process — I would work to confirm that nominee before the end of the month,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate education panel and a former education secretary under President George H.W. Bush.
“For proper accountability, especially as we work with the administration on implementing the new law governing elementary and secondary education, it He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post:
“For proper accountability, especially as we work with the administration on implementing the new law governing elementary and secondary education, it He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post:
