Arne Duncan Stepping Down as U.S. Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan will surrender his U.S. secretary of education post in December, an Education Department official confirmed Friday. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.

Duncan has been a mainstay of President Obama’s cabinet, serving as the White House’s top education official since Obama took office in 2009.

In a letter to department staff members, obtained by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Duncan said he was going to move back to Chicago to live with his family, writing that “being apart from my family has become too much of a strain, and it is time for me to step aside and give a new leader a chance.”

He went on: “I haven’t talked with anyone about what I’ll do next, and probably won’t for a little while.” He added that his next steps would probably “continue to involve the work of expanding opportunity for children, but I have no idea what that will look like yet.”

Duncan was the chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools before he was tapped to lead the Education Department.

According to the letter, Obama will name John B. King Jr., a senior official in the department, as interim secretary. But he is not nominating King for the permanent post.

In a written statement, Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who is chairman of the Senate’s education committee, said Duncan was “one of the president’s best appointments.” He added: “When we disagree, it is usually because he believes the path to effective teaching, higher standards, and real accountability is through Washington, D.C., and I believe it should be in the hands of states, communities, parents, and classroom teachers.”