“Education…is the civil rights issue of our generation. It’s the only path out of poverty, the only road to a more equal, just and fair society…Every child from every background can be successful.”
–Arne Duncan, Senate Confirmation Hearings, January 13, 2009
Sue’s oldest son Arne Duncan was recently sworn in as Secretary of Education, taking the Center’s commitment to excellence in education to Washington D.C.

1977 - Arne holds a basketball with friends from the Center, including Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan (third on top).
Arne’s deep commitment to education began with his childhood experiences at the Center. “The most formative [opportunity] was…growing up as a part of my mother’s inner-city tutoring program,” he said at the hearing. “What I saw, literally from the time I was born, was despite challenges at home, despite challenges in the community that are sometimes unimaginable, our young people can be very, very successful.”
Growing up on the streets of the South Side of Chicago, Arne was no stranger to those “unimaginable challenges.” In his lifetime, the Center has survived a firebombing, death threats, and frequent brushes with gang violence. Those experiences, added to his time as Director of the Ariel Education Initiative (founded by financier John Rogers) and 10 years at CPS, have created an intense motivation to advance education in America.
“We must do dramatically better,” he says. “We must continue to innovate. We must build upon what works. We must stop doing what doesn’t work. And we have to continue to challenge the status quo.”
Read more about Arne Duncan:
Never a teacher, but Duncan’s life work is kids
Photos of Arne