Duncan is one of just a few remaining members of Obama’s original cabinet.
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Barack Obama’s long-standing education secretary, Arne Duncan, will stand down from his role in December. The other is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
He said in the email that he was happy Obama had asked King to step into his role after he leaves. The Secretary of Education told staff that he would be returning to Chicago, but he was unsure what he would do next. Duncan is stepping down in December after 7 years in the Obama administration. The official wasn’t authorized to comment by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In a letter that was obtained by the Associated Press, reported the Post, Duncan informed his colleagues that he wasn’t sure what he would do next, but that he hoped it would “continue to involve the work of expanding opportunity for children”.
Duncan is among the group of close Obama confidantes who participated in the president’s Election Day pick-up game in 2012.
The rapid pace of change Duncan and his team initiated on the nation’s schools – especially through its Race to the Top competition and waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, the current version of ESEA – has lead massive blowback from everyone from teachers to state chiefs and the administration’s own Democratic allies in Congress. As the Post article noted, that initiative set off a firestorm over “federal involvement in education”.
Duncan showed little patience for criticism of the program and the standards. He served as Commissioner until January, 2015, when assumed the position of Senior Advisor Delegated Duties of Deputy Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education. In 2014, he cast critics as “white suburban moms who – all of a sudden – their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary”. He served earlier as state education commissioner in New York, running the state’s public schools and expansive system of state colleges and universities.
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“Over the years that I have known him, and especially in the months we have worked together here, I’ve come to recognize John as one of the most passionate, courageous, clear-headed leaders in our field”, Duncan said.
