Arne Duncan, Education Secretary, to Step Down in December

Arne Duncan, the secretary of education and a member of President Obama’s original cabinet, will step down in December after a long tenure in which he repeatedly challenged the nation’s schools to break out of their hidebound ways.

A White House official confirmed Mr. Duncan’s decision to step down and said the president has decided to name John B. King Jr., the deputy secretary of education, to replace Mr. Duncan to lead the Department of Education.

In an email to his staff sent Friday morning, Mr. Duncan praised the work of his department, saying that “as a comparatively small team, often under challenging conditions and timelines, our staff has continued to offer example after example of dedication beyond the call of duty.”

He said the department would be in good hands under Mr. King, a former commissioner of education in New York State and a former president of the University of the State of New York.

As secretary, Mr. Duncan started the “Race to the Top” program, in which billions of dollars was offered in a competition to school districts to innovate in the ways they teach children. Mr. Duncan accompanied the president from Chicago, where the two had forged a friendship.

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