U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, May 20, for a series of events. First, he will visit Brick Church College Prep and hold a town hall with Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, students, parents, educators and local leaders. The town hall, which begins at 10:20 a.m., will focus on the success of Race to the Top in helping states make strides in education reform and student progress. A question-and-answer session will follow the event.
At 12:45 p.m., Duncan will give remarks at the Education Writers Association’s (EWA) National Conference. He will discuss progress and continued educational challenges, 60 years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Duncan also will highlight the problem of educational complacency and urge renewed attention to issues of educational equity. A question-and-answer session with reporters will follow.
Meanwhile, the Department’s Deputy Under Secretary Jamienne Studley also will participate in the EWA National Conference. During a 2 p.m. seminar titled “The State of the College Ratings Proposal,” she will discuss the proposed college ratings systems, followed by a question-and-answer session with Daniel Madzelan, associate vice president for government relations at the American Council on Education and a former U.S. Department of Education senior official.
Lastly, at 1:45 p.m., Duncan will participate in a roundtable about teacher preparation with Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College faculty and local teachers. He will discuss the importance of preparing educators to be successful in the classroom—from day one—and learn what Peabody is doing to ensure that all teachers are equipped with the training they need. A media availability will follow the discussion.