Controversial and Thankless Work

U.S. Department of Education sent this bulletin at 12/02/2011 09:45 AM EST

News from the Department of EducationHaving trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Bookmark and Share

Weekly Update: Controversial and Thankless Work 

“My chief message today is a sobering one,” Secretary Duncan told officials from colleges and universities who were gathered this week at the annual Federal Student Aid conference in Las Vegas. “I want to ask you, and the entire higher education community, to look ahead and start thinking more creatively—and with much greater urgency—about how to contain the spiraling costs of college and reduce the burden of student debt on our nation’s students.” 

Duncan called for a national conversation on the issue, and noted that containing the cost of college and student debt will always be some of the most controversial and thankless work in all of higher education.

Click here to read his speech. 

Click here to learn more about the administration's pay-as-you-earn proposal, and click here to read about the Income-Based Repayment Plan.

Photo of the Week:

 Secretary Duncan in Las Vegas

Secretary Duncan talks with town hall participants at the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne Campus, where Duncan participated in a town hall discussion with state and local education stakeholders regarding education issues affecting student achievement and economic competitiveness. 

Weekly Highlights:

  • A new report from ED documents that schools serving low-income students are being shortchanged because school districts across the country are inequitably distributing their state and local funds.
  • Officials from ED visited a high school that is nearly 150 years old in Racine, Wis., a school that could be helped by President Obama's American Jobs Act proposal to help schools around the country upgrade their facilities.
  • ED recently announced that seven states eligible for Race to the Top Round 3 (RTT3) funds have submitted complete applications for a share of $200 million to help drive reform.
  • Secretary Duncan sat down recently to respond to a couple of questions he received on his Facebook page. Duncan addressed teacher salaries and standardized tests.

Get Updated:

Are you a teacher? Are you interested in getting news and resources from ED especially for teachers? Sign up for our e-newsletter, Teaching Matters!