Superintendent Johnson, other city school leaders meet with Education Secretary Duncan

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, this week joined urban school district leaders from across the country in a meeting with key Obama administration officials about public education.

The Council of the Great City Schools, the coalition of the nation’s largest urban public school systems, led some 30 urban school superintendents and board members to a roundtable discussion with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Obama Administration officials at the White House to discuss how best to utilize the economic stimulus package to improve and advance American urban public education.

Dr. Johnson, who serves as Chair-elect of the Council, noted that the roundtable discussion gave her a better understanding about the stimulus provisions, guidelines and funds, and how they can be put to use in accelerating reform efforts. She said, “We believe that Secretary Duncan and President Obama appreciate the need to spur progress in the nation’s urban centers to improve the economy and better prepare our students for global competition.”

“We had an opportunity to learn how we might take advantage of the stimulus funds in creating and saving hundreds of programs to help our inner-city children achieve, implementing shovel-ready projects to aid in modernizing our school buildings, and investing in initiatives to provide the best school teachers and principals in underserved schools,” said Council Executive Director Michael Casserly.

Showing gratitude for the stimulus funds, Bill Isler, chair of the Council and member of the Pittsburgh school board, stressed, “We know that we need to spend the funds wisely, transparently and effectively in a short period. With this meeting today, we have a better idea of how to channel the funds to spur progress in the classrooms and throughout our school systems to enhance reform efforts.”

Prior to his appointment, Secretary Duncan served as Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools. School leaders from Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia and other major cities throughout the nation attended the two-hour session.

In addition to Secretary Duncan, the urban educators also met with President Obama’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett.