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Video: Sec. Duncan kicks off school challenge

Closed captioning of: Sec. Duncan kicks off school challenge

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>> you very much.

>>> how would you like president obama to speak at your child's graduation? that is the prize of a nationwide challenge announced by the white house while we were in vancouver. arne duncan is the secretary of transportation and will help select the winning school . secretary duncan, good morning to you.

>> good morning, meredith. thank you for having me.

>> pleasure to have you. before we get to the challenge, yesterday the president announced grants aimed at low-performing schools if they are willing to take dramatic steps to change the condition they're in, drastic steps, even. and he pointed to, as an example, a school in rhode island that recently fired all its teachers after only 7% of the 11th graders passed the state math exam. do you think that other failing schools should follow that lead?

>> well, i think this is a decision that has to be made at the local level. it's not something we should decide from here, but we have to do the right thing by children around the country. we have a dropout crisis. it is economically unsustainable and morally unacceptable, and the president yesterday, i thought, showed real courage. alma powell , colin powell , this is an absolute bipartisan effort. we have to work together to be successful.

>> if we use just the rhode island schools as successful, don't you risk losing the good teachers with the bad there?

>> there are many great teachers in any underperforming school . again, it's a local decision what the right thing to do is there, but what we all agree on is the status quo there isn't good enough. we have to get better. everyone agrees on that. i'd like to congratulate the national union leadership for no one's defending the status quo , we have to get better. how that plays out has to be a local decision.

>> the money would also go to districts that close entire schools when they are failing, something you did when you ran the public schools in chicago. between 2001 and 2006 , i believe you closed 38 schools, but a study by the university of chicago , a subsequent study showed that the children who left those schools for others didn't do any better. so, wasn't it just shifting the problem from one place to another?

>> no, there are lots of different options here, and what we're advocating is often making sure those schools, existing schools, stay strong. in many places, you can't move children around to different schools, but you can come back and create much better options in communities that have been historically underserved. we've seen example after example around the country, whether it was in chicago, whether it was in l.a., a recent school where attendance went up 20%. that's an additional 20 days of school each year that children are going to school , an additional month. test scores in philadelphia went from 7% to after the turn-around 54% of students meeting state proficiency standards. we see dramatic, dramatic improvement. the big thing the country needs to understand is poverty is not destiny. we have hundreds and hundreds of performing high-poverty schools around the country. we have to make that the norm, not the exception. our students, regardless of where they come from, regardless of background, can do extraordinarily well academically. we have to make sure every child has a chance to get a great education.

>> let's talk about the challenge for public high schools , encouraging them to compete for the chance to have the president speak at their commencement address this spring. what are you hoping to achieve with this challenge and how will you determine which school wins?

>> first of all, meredith, i don't know about you, but i can't remember who my high school commencement speaker was, and this is going to be just an absolutely memorable day for whichever high school wins. this is a race to the top commencement challenge. the president's asking every high school to put their best foot forward and demonstrate what they're doing to make sure that every student graduates from high school , college and career-ready, which is his goal. he's committed to doing this every single year. so, this is just a really fun challenge. the applications are due march 15th , in less than two weeks. and so, we expect many, many high schools around the country to submit, whether it's their essays and applications or video presentation, and we look forward to a very, very vigorous competition. the public's going to help us decide. we want every high school to demonstrate what they're doing to give every child a chance to be successful and fulfill their tremendous academic ial.

>> you're right about one thing, i do not remember my commencement speaker . education secretary arne duncan , thank you so much.

>> thanks for having me.

Show transcript

TODAY

updated 3/2/2010 8:48:58 AM ET

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The White House and the Department of Education have announced the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and are inviting public schools across the country to compete to have President Obama speak at their graduation. At the beginning of the school year, the president encouraged students across the country to take responsibility for their education, study hard and graduate from high school. The Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge encourages schools to show how they are making great strides on personal responsibility, academic excellence and college readiness.

Applications must be completed by students and submitted by a high school’s principal using the commencement challenge application form no later than Monday, March 15 at 11:59 pm EST. Each school may submit only one application and high schools must be public to apply. Following the application deadline, six finalists will be selected by the White House and Department of Education. These schools will then be featured on the White House Web site and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the president’s goal. The president will select a national winner from these three finalists and visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement address to the class of 2010.

The application’s four essay questions focus on demonstrating how the school is helping prepare students to meet the president’s 2020 goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Applications will be judged based on the school’s performance and dedication to providing students an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices. Each question must be answered in full to qualify and data that substantiates each answer is strongly encouraged.

In addition to the required essay responses, applicants are invited to submit the following optional supplemental materials:

A video — no more than two minutes in length — showing the school’s culture and character and highlighting how it is a model of educational success for other high schools around the country.
Supplemental data on key indicators such as attendance, student achievement, graduation rates and where available, college enrollment rates. This data may be presented in the form of tables, graphs or spreadsheets and should be used to help the school make the most compelling arguments possible.

Apply using the commencement challenge application form.