Education Secretary Arne Duncan to step down in December

Arne Duncan, the U.S. Education Secretary, announced Friday that he would step down in December.

The departure of Duncan, 50, will mark the end of service of one of the longest-serving education secretaries, and according to the Washington Post, one of the most successful and influential education secretaries.

In vacating his Cabinet position, Duncan will be leaving the Obama administration just over a year before the end of the president's time in office.

“He’s done more to bring our educational system, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the 21st century than anyone else,” President Obama said at the White House on Friday afternoon as he announced Duncan’s resignation. “America will be better off for what he has done.”

Highlights from Duncan’s tenure as Education Secretary include pushing for changes to remedy the most “onerous provisions” of the No Child Left Behind law, signed into legislation under the Bush administration, and also by pushing for the adoption of “new academic standards like the Common Core,” according to the New York Times.

Duncan cited wanting to spend more time with his family as one of the reasons for his resignation, saying, “I can’t wait to come home and see a couple of more track meets.”

Obama has tabbed John B. King Jr., who currently acts as deputy secretary of education, as Duncan’s successor.

image courtesy of INFevents.com

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