Education Secretary Arne Duncan grew up in Chicago and attended the private, prestigious University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. The pre-K-12 Lab Schools are progressive institutions that, according to its Web site, “ignite and nurture an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence” and “value learning experientially, exhibiting kindness, and honoring diversity.”
The teachers there are unionized and respected by administrators. President Obama’s two daughters attended the school before moving to Washington in 2009, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s children are enrolled there now. And in the fall, Duncan’s children will be attending Lab, too, while his wife works there.
Duncan’s wife, Karen, and his two children, Claire and Ryan, recently moved back to Chicago, eager to restart life in the city where they lived before then President-elect Barack Obama asked his old friend in 2008 to run the U.S. Education Department. Before that, Duncan had served as the chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools from 2001 through December 2008 and instituted reforms — including closing schools, performance pay for teachers, and charter schools — that never resulted in the significant system turnaround he began demanding of other systems as education secretary.
Duncan will remain in Washington D.C., serving out the Obama administration’s second term before rejoining his family in Chicago. The move has been in the works for some time; Karen Duncan was seen at the Lab Schools in late January with her two children (who “shadowed” other students through a school day, which is commonly done by students preparing to attend a particular school).
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