From the U.S. Department of Education.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan renewed his call for seizing opportunities for improved productivity and proficiency in this "new normal" time of economic and fiscal constraints in a conversation with school leaders and Dr. Gerald Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He urged the listeners of NASSP's online radio show and podcast to avoid such "imprudent steps" as reducing the length of school year, eliminating subjects that provide a well-rounded education, or closing down promising reforms. Instead, the Secretary urged them to consider such measures as deferring construction projects and lowering the costs of textbooks and health care. This is not a time "... for folks to throw their hands up," he said, but rather it is"... a real test of leadership for those within the education community." (January 2011)

"The urgency for reform has never been greater," Education Secretary Arne Duncan observed in an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Post at the outset of the New Year. And with key members of both political parties "poised to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," he offered an optimistic assessment of the chances of the reauthorization occurring in 2011. Democrats and Republicans agree, the secretary noted, on many issues related to the current law, known as No Child Left Behind, including its labeling of schools as failures, "even when they are making broad gains." Based on his two years of speaking and working with mayors, governors, and members of Congress, Secretary Duncan sees opportunity for bipartisan action on the needed reauthorization to "do something together for our children that will build America's future, strengthen our economy and reflect well on us all." (January 2011)

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced 13 new National Board members for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), a unit within the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education. These new board members, who possess expertise in education, business, and law, will advise the secretary and the assistant secretary for postsecondary education on priorities for improvement and suggest recommendations for implementing programs with demonstrated success. In addition, they will give advice about the operation of FIPSE, including guidelines for grant competitions. (December 2010)