The edumacation secretary was named yesterday.

Arne Duncan, ran the CHICAGO public school system.

I hope he can do for America what he did for Illinois and CHICAGO." 17% of eighth graders can read at that level in Chicago schools overseen by Arne Duncan.

In 2007, only 17 percent of eighth graders tested at or above grade level in reading in CHICAGO Public Schools - the school system administered by Arne Duncan since 2001.

Students in eighth grade are those most likely to have been in the CHICAGO system for a majority of Duncan's tenure.

In math, CHICAGO Public Schools’ average score increased from 254 in 2003 to 260 in 2007. The national average for 2007 was 280. Seventy-five percent of CHICAGO students scored below 283 in the math assessment."

"Nationally, CHICAGO is the third largest school district with over 408,000 students.

Its budget for 2007-2008 was $4.6 billion, according to information released by CHICAGO Public Schools. $862 million of that was supplied by the federal government." For all of this money, CHICAGO is behind. Only 17% of eighth graders can read at that level.



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Obama's choice for education secretary, CHICAGO school chief Arne (Ar-NEE) Duncan, is getting a warm welcome from most factions of the education community. He's been, in many ways, an unconventional leader willing to find creative solutions to some of public education's oldest dilemmas, including school attendance and dropout rates. The 44-year-old will have a lot on his plate, if confirmed, including what to do with President Bush's much maligned No Child Left Behind policy and how to make college more affordable. Other Cabinet picks