From The Washington Post
By Lois Romano

He may have tanked his tryout for the Boston Celtics, but as President Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan has hit the jackpot: an unprecedented $100 billion at his disposal to try to turn around the nation’s public schools. The 44-year-old career education administrator is juggling a lot of balls as he begins to parcel out stimulus money to the states, tackles the much-maligned No Child Left Behind reauthorization legislation, and figures out how to get rid of bad teachers — and pay the good ones more. The 6-foot-4-inch Duncan met Obama in Chicago, where the two were pickup basketball buddies, and where Duncan headed the 600-school district. He says his family has made a quicker transition to his exalted role in Washington than he expected, and yes, his own children attend public school, in Arlington. But he won’t say where he and the president play ball these days.

Romano: Did President Obama give you some specifics that he wanted you to tackle?

Duncan: He wanted the opportunity to drive up college graduation rates.

Romano: The education budget has been doubled, to $100 billion. Where do you start?

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