Arne Duncan's Visit Huge Success, September 2010

Everybody wanted to talk to Arne Duncan. The U.S. Secretary of Education’s Sept. 15 visit to Sterling Elementary brought Gov. Beverly Perdue, state Board of Education Chairman William C. Harrison, and eight of nine members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education to the south Charlotte school, as well as CMS teachers, principals, parents and administrators.

The group with the most questions for Duncan turned out to be the group with the most at stake in his mission to turn around America’s schools – the students. Fourth-graders in Jean Konzelmann’s class had more questions than he had time to answer.

“Are you friends with President Obama?”

“Do you spend time with your family?”

“What’s most important to you about education?”

“What helped you stay in school?”

“Who are your heroes?”

The hands kept flying up as Duncan talked candidly with students about his job, his goals for public education and his own experiences in a classroom. He told the students that he was visiting Charlotte because “we’re going to give every child in the country a chance to go to a great school like you guys.”