Arne “Pragmatist” Duncan

Drum roll please. President-Obama’s appointment for Secretary of Education is Arne Duncan, Chicago’s schools chief and an education “pragmatist.” I like the choice, as I believe Duncan’s approach will be to look at the reforms being implemented throughout the country-- small schools, themed schools, charter schools, extended days/years, alternative certification routes, teacher merit pay, college-prep-for-all curricula, principal accountability, principal training academies, and data systems—and scale the ones that are clearly working and let develop further the ones that aren't yet proven. Duncan fits Obama’s bill for being empirical pragmatic.