Afternoon Announcements: Duncan Tells State Education Chiefs to Set the Bar Higher

Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland are speaking out on the need for reform in the county’s public schools, including fixing run-down and overcrowded schools. More than 400 people attended recent meetings to voice the need for upgrades. The Washington Post

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended recent rollbacks on the requirements for renewal of waivers for the No Child Left Behind act. Duncan encouraged state chiefs to set the bar higher for education standards and success. Politics K-12

“In today’s increasingly competitive, global economy, we must deliver a world-class education to all students—regardless of the circumstances that they bring to their learning.  This is a promise we must keep to our nation’s English learners, and to all of America’s learners,” says Libia Gill, recently named assistant deputy secretary and director of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education. Homeroom