U.S. Education Secretary Warns Illinois Test Scores May Seem Low

During his visit to Purdue Wednesday as part of his annual “Back to School” bus tour, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wove together the university’s recent initiatives with his own vision for education accessibility and affordability.

Arne Duncan visited Fern Creek High and JCTC in April. They miss out on about $150 billion in grants and loans made available by the federal government every year, he said. He told a group of prospective college students during a discussion at the University of Louisville that too many students never fill out federal financial aid forms.

“We have been really thrilled with what the city has done, what mayor ballard has done with My Brother’s Keeper”.

“Illinois is the model of how not to fund public education”, Duncan said when asked about the issue during a visit to the University of Illinois campus.

He said U of L is “working so hard to make sure students feel comfortable when they come there”.

Cincinnati State is the only stop in Ohio and the only community college on this year’s tour.

“Textbooks, while they’re great, are almost extinct by the time they get to you”, said the principal of Williamsfield C.U.S.D, Zack Binder. And redirecting those savings to purchasing devices has enabled students and teachers to tap into the wealth of resources outside their single school building and beyond their village of just 650 residents.

“There’s so little information out there about what universities provide”, he said. Duncan on Thursday called the arrest of the 14-year-old “crazy” and “stereotyping and fear run amok”.

Police declined to seek any charges against the boy, but his detaining has ignited a wave of criticism and suspicion that police and school staff had overreacted because of his religion. “I think folks would be pretty stunned at how high they are, the state needs to think about a set of standards that will ensure that young people can no just go to college but be successful there”.