Obama names Arne Duncan education secretary
As he introduced "my friend" and Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as his choice for Secretary of Education Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama also talked about the federal reserve lowering interest rates this morning.
But Obama refused to answer any more questions about the scandal surround Gov. Blagojevich's alleged attempts to sell Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
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Arne Duncan
Voicing a willingness to try new ideas to solve the economic and educational crises facing the nation, Obama said he would even consider charter schools, which have flourished in Chicago even though teacher unions complain they siphon resources from the public schools.
"If charter schools work, let's try them -- let's not be clouded by ideology," Obama said.
Appearing at the Dodge Renaissaince Academy on Chicago's West Side underneath a rolled-up basketball net, Obama introduced his longtime fellow hoops-shooter Duncan, joking that "I did not select Arne because he is one of the best basketball players, athough I would say that we are putting together the best basketball playing cabinet in American history." After introducing Duncan and taking four questions, Obama went upstairs to a classroom to face questions from 12 elementary-school kids.
He told them to study hard, and if they own a dog like he plans to buy for his daughters, that they need to clean up after the dog.
"I want to make sure that my daughters...take care of their dog," Obama said. "You've got to feed your dog. You've got to walk your dog. And then if they do their business, if they got some poop, you've got to make sure that you're not just leaving it there." President-elect Obama said Tuesday the Fed is "running out of the traditional ammunition" to combat the recession and that it was important that other government branches "step up." Obama's economic team is meeting Tuesday.
Shaping his hands like an oval, Obama talked to the students about the Oval Office he will occupy in the White House.
One proposal Obama discussed with the children -- one that got no cheers -- was lengthening their time in school.
"Kids in a lot of other countries go to school more than kids in the United States and so one of the things I think weıll be talking about is whether or not we should have longer school days, maybe with more breaks; whether the summer months should be shorter or longer," Obama told the kids. "I havenıt made any decisions about this, but this is something that a lot of peope are suggesting that maybe our kids need a little more time in the classroom. The longer youıre here, the smarter you get. And we want you to be the smartest." Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Duncan sat on swivel chairs, their shirt sleeves rolled up, addressing the kids underneath paper stars hung on strings.
Obama teased Biden about his math skills, saying when one student said he was learning decimals, "Joe doesnıt even know decimals." Asked if he would continue to represent the dream of Martin Luther King, Obama said, "We can all help to represent Martin Luther King. He tried to make the country better and make sure everybody was treated equally. Thatıs something that not just the president but all of you can do: Make sure that youıre respectful of other people, kind to other people, to your teachers and parents. If you treat people with respect, then youıre living up to Dr.
Kingıs spirit. You also have to work hard. Dr. King used to talk about the fact that no matter what your job is you want to do your best. Right now your job is to learn." As Obama introduced Duncan Tuesday, Duncanıs mother looked on, having earlier recounted bringing Duncan to her after-school tutoring center since he was a baby.
"Her remarkable courage and dedication has been a constant source of inspiration to me," Duncan said. "It continued throughout high school, college and much of my professional life, including Australia, where I worked with underprivileged young people when I wasn't playing basketball." Duncanıs brother, sister, friends including financier John Rogers and former Governors State University president Paula Wolff , and others were on hand to cheer and applaud.
Asked about the fedıs actions Tuesday morning, Obama said, "Well, I don't think it's good policy for the president or a president-elect to second-guess the Fed, which is an independent body. But let me just make an observation that we are running out of the traditional ammunition that's used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates. They're getting to be about as low as they can go. And although the Fed is still going to have more tools available to it, it is critical that the other branches of government step up, and that's why the economic recovery plan is so absolutely critical." Asked whether there was a contradiction between his stated hands-off policy on who his replacement would be in the senate and new reports showing his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel delivered a list of acceptable senate candidates to Blagojevich, Obama interrupted the reporter and said, "...let me just cut you off, because I don't want you to waste your question ...the U.S.
Attorneys Office specifically asked us not to release this until next week."