Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Former NYS Education Commissioner To Serve As Acting U.S. Education Secretary

New York State Education Commissioner John King
New York State Education Commissioner John King

WASHINGTON (AP & WXXI News) Education Secretary Arne Duncan is stepping down in December after 7 years in the Obama administration. 

Duncan says in a letter to staff that he's returning to Chicago to live with his family. 

President Barack Obama is tapping Education Department official John King Jr. as acting secretary through the end of his term. But Obama is not nominating King to be secretary. Elevating King in an acting capacity spares Obama a potential clash with Senate Republicans over his education policies as his term draws to a close.  

King is currently serving as delegated deputy secretary. He oversees preschool through high school education and manages the department's operations.  King is a former New York State Education Commissioner. He served from 2011 until last January.

Chancellor Merryl Tisch of the New York State Board of Regents calls King “an extraordinary leader and an incredible partner” in his four and a half years as New York’s Education commissioner, saying that with “vision and courage” he led the transition to higher standards, a stronger curriculum and critical reforms in teacher preparation.”

NYSUT, the state's largest teacher union, was critical of the appointment, in a statement issued Friday:

New York State United Teachers is disappointed in John King’s appointment as acting U.S. Secretary of Education. NYSUT has always considered John King an ideologue with whom we disagreed sharply on many issues during his tenure as the state’s Education Department commissioner. Just last year, our members delivered a vote of no confidence against him and called for his resignation."

NYSUT urged its members to call the White House to express their displeasure in John King’s appointment.

Obama described Duncan as one of the most consequential secretaries in the department's history and said Duncan delivered at every stage of learning. 
 
 ``Arne's done more to bring our educational system, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the 21st century than anybody else,'' Obama said.  The president also praised John King, saying that he shares the administration's commitment to preparing every child for success in a more innovative and competitive world.
 
Duncan plans to return to Chicago, where his family is living, with his future plans uncertain.  
 

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.