Word: duncan
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...willingness to compromise. In the heated world of education politics, that was the clearest message coming from President-elect Barack Obama when he tapped Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan to become the next Secretary of Education. (See Obama's other Cabinet picks...
...Duncan, 44, has overseen the nation's third-largest school district and its more than 400,000 students for the past seven years. He's considered by most to be a quiet consensus builder. In Chicago, his knack for forging alliances can be seen in his strong relationship with the local teachers' union despite his embrace of reforms the union is leery of, including school choice, pay for performance and a willingness to close down failing schools. "Duncan mirrors the President-elect's style of governing - get all sides around the table, listen carefully and experiment with meaningful reforms," says...
...other big plus: Duncan will be sure to have the President-elect's ear. They are personal friends and often play basketball together, most recently on Election Day. Like Obama, Duncan is Harvard-educated, and his Chicago roots run deep. The schools chief grew up in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, where the Obamas have lived for several years. He went to the same private school the President-elect's daughters attended until recently. After Harvard, where he was co-captain of the basketball team, Duncan spent a year playing the sport in Australia before returning to his hometown...
...campaign trail, Obama frequently applauded what Duncan has accomplished in Chicago, long considered to have one of the country's most challenging school districts. Under Duncan's watch, the city's schools for the past seven years have seen increases in some state test scores, though they continue to lag behind the Illinois average. But the graduation rate has risen 6%, and 53 new schools have opened. Duncan has spearheaded merit-pay incentives for both teachers and students as well, and suggested opening the country's first gay-friendly high school. In each of these endeavors, he has tried...
...recent Eliasch Review on forestry, which estimated that failure to halt deforestation could increase the cost of damages caused by global warming by $1 trillion annually by 2100. "If we're going to solve climate change we need to take advantage of the opportunity to reduce deforestation," says Duncan Marsh, TNC's director of international climate policy. "We have no choice." That's the promise of avoided deforestation, in which rich countries pay to keep rain forests standing and receive carbon credits in return. Currently, the international carbon cap-and-trade system organized by the Kyoto Protocol only recognizes industrial...