U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepping down, AP sources say

He is the second longest-serving cabinet member in the Obama Administration. The other is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I imagine my next steps will continue to involve the work of expanding opportunity for children, but I have no idea what that will look like yet”, he said. But Obama is not nominating King to be secretary. Duncan says in a letter to staff that he’s returning to Chicago to live with his family.

“We do not intend to nominate another candidate”, said a White House official who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The veteran educator had previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.

As reported by Associated Press, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, 50, will be leaving the position in December.

Arne Duncan will be stepping down in December, according to the Washington Post.

This week, Duncan introduced a proposal to stop what he called the school-to-prison pipeline, or a student discipline system that relies on law enforcement and disproportionately hurts minorities.

In the early days of the administration, Duncan and Obama often played pick-up basketball on the weekends in Washington – though Obama’s days on the court have waned in favor of days on the golf course.

“When we disagree, it is usually because he believes the path to effective teaching, higher standards, and real accountability is through Washington, D.C., and I believe it should be in the hands of states, communities, parents and classroom teachers”, said Alexander, who served as education secretary under George H.W. Bush.

King oversaw New York’s rollout of Common Core, and he supported the more-stringent education standards.

Duncan was the architect of the Race to the Top program, a competition where states competed for federal education dollars. The program was the first of several Duncan initiatives that became embroiled in the fight over federal involvement in education.

Duncan showed little patience for criticism of the program and the standards. The Duncan kids attend the private University of Chicago Lab School, a Duncan spokesman said at the time.

“John King was an extraordinary leader and an incredible partner in his four and a half years as New York’s commissioner”, Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch said in a statement.