April 2010

Success as the Norm

I have a confession to make tonight. I am getting impatient with talking about "islands" of educational excellence. If no man is an island, no school should be either.

Keeping the Promise to All America's Children

President Obama and I believe that every child deserves a world-class education. When the president says every child, it is not just rhetoric--he means every child, regardless of his or her skin color, nationality, ethnicity, or ability. The truth is, however, that virtually everyone professes to believe that all children deserve a world-class education.

The Importance of Title IX

I am pleased that the Department is issuing this Dear Colleague letter on athletic programs today. I think this reaffirmation of longstanding policy will help to bolster Title IX and assure that educational institutions that receive federal financial assistance do not discriminate on the basis of sex.

Secretary Arne Duncan's Testimony Before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Regarding the FY 2011 Education Budget

Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Cochran, Members of the Subcommittee:

I planned to begin today by talking about education reform because there is a lot of good news to report—but before I do I want to talk about education jobs.

The Well-Rounded Curriculum

If there is a message that I hope you will take away from today's conference it is this: The arts can no longer be treated as a frill. As First Lady Michelle Obama has said, "the arts are not just a nice thing to have or do if there is free time or if one can afford it... Paintings and poetry, music and design... they all define who we are as a people."