Obama's Pick for Secretary of Education Is Arne Duncan

In Chicago, only 51 percent of students graduate in four years, and in nearby Joliet only 48 percent graduate in four years. Illinois cities are not alone; nineteen of the top 25 largest cities in America graduate less than 60 percent of their students on time,

Arne Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1987, majoring in sociology. He was co-captain of Harvard’s basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American. From 1987-1991, Mr. Duncan played professional basketball in Australia, where he also worked with children who were wards of the state.

Duncan returned to Chicago in 1992 to direct the Ariel Education Initiative, which seeks to create outstanding educational opportunities for inner-city children on the City’s South Side.  In 1998, he joined the Chicago Public Schools.

In June, 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley named Duncan Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools. 

Duncan currently serves on the Boards of the Ariel Education Initiative, Chicago Cares, The Children’s Center, the Golden Apple Foundation, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Jobs for America’s Graduates, Junior Achievement, the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Foundation, Renaissance Schools Fund, Scholarship Chicago and the South Side YMCA.

He also serves on the Board of Overseers for Harvard College and the Visiting Committees for Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.  He was a fellow in the Leadership Greater Chicago’s class of 1995, and a member of the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellowship Program, Class of 2002.  He has received honorary degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Lake Forest College and National Louis University.

In 2006, the City Club of Chicago named Duncan Citizen of the Year.

Obama is expected to appear with Duncan at the Dodge Renaissance Academy on Tuesday morning.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following is a statement from Illinois Education Association President Ken Swanson: "The appointment of Arne Duncan to lead the Department of Education is an immediate upgrade for an agency that, during the last eight years, has seldom acted in the best interests of school children and education employees. "In May, 2007, Arne Duncan participated in the IEA-organized CARE rally, which brought more than 8,000 people to Springfield to demand school funding reform. That day, Duncan told the crowd that adequate education funding is '...THE civil rights issue of our generation,' then led the throng in the chant, 'Fund our schools! Fund our schools!'