“Arne Duncan” on The Daily Caller

As I wrote on September 23 in this space, here, the Department of Education’s (DOE) attempt to put more stringent regulations on for-profit colleges is an example of good intentions gone awry. Rather than expanding college opportunities and fighting fraud, the proposed new “gainful employment” (“GE”) rules would instead limit college access (especially for minority students), raise taxpayer costs, and create new obstacles for employers eager to hire qualified workers. (more)

For all his talk of reform, President Barack Obama and his allies have it in for anything not part of the government education monopoly. (more)

Things aren’t getting any easier for the Education Department. In response to objections from House and Senate Democrats and Republicans, Secretary Arne Duncan hinted last week that he would hold off on implementing new regulations aimed at restricting student loans to for-profit colleges. A new report by former Democratic strategist and economist Robert Shapiro will make moving forward on said regulations that much more difficult. (more)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas officials filed a lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Department of Education, seeking to overturn the federal agency’s rejection of the state’s application for more than $830 million in aid that has been tied up in political wrangling. (more)

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the oft-criticized former head of the Chicago Public School System, has a new nemesis. This time, it’s not teachers unions lambasting the Education secretary for giving them the cold shoulder. Nor is it a mutant cohort of politically diverse education advocates howling about Race to the Top’s alleged politicization. (more)

President Obama has repeatedly cited education as a top priority, promising to increase accountability for teachers, administrators and parents. But he missed a major opportunity to speak out, education advocates said Monday, by failing to campaign for Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who is facing what many think is a likely defeat in Tuesday’s primary. (more)

“You can lead a boy to college but you can’t make him think,” philosopher Elbert Hubbard once said. According to a report the Department of Education released on Monday, you can’t make him pay for it, either. (more)

While Fox News host Glenn Beck spoke to the droves of people that flooded the Lincoln Memorial to attend his “Restoring Honor” rally Saturday, the Reverend Al Sharpton also drew a sizable, though much smaller, crowd across town for his “Reclaiming the Dream” rally at Dunbar High School. Sharpton’s rally concluded with a march to the proposed site of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. (more)

Over the next several weeks, 54.4 million children will go back to school. For many children, the start of school marks the ceremonial end of summer, and a return to the excitement of a new school year. (more)

The U.S. Department of Education’s spokesperson hung up on The Daily Caller Wednesday when seeking clarification regarding the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s planned speech at an Aug. 28 protest march that the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) are holding to counter Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally. (more)

House Democrats are rolling the dice Tuesday after returning from a recess that had barely begun to pass a $26 billion teacher jobs bill — at a time when calls for fiscal restraint are dominating the campaign landscape. (more)

House members return to Washington this week for a special session that will include a vote on a $26.1 billion spending package intended partially to keep states from laying off teachers, a move some critics have called a “bailout for teachers unions.” (more)

Reporting from Washington — Anyone wondering how Christiane Amanpour, novice to Washington, is going to make it in this “town” (as insiders call the nation’s capital), can rest assured. If her first days on the job here are an indication, she’s as well known on Pennsylvania Avenue as she is in the darkest corners of the world where she’s spent the last two decades reporting for CNN. (more)

Editor’s Note: Daily Caller High is a group of young writers cutting their teeth in the world of political punditry. This week, the authors’ reflect on events of the past few weeks. (more)

How much do Dems love discussing tax increases right before an election? SO, SO MUCH! — Faced with ethics investigation, senile congressman tells colleagues to eat his shorts — The children of America have placed a bounty on Arne Duncan’s head –
Christian student banned from counseling program for refusing to abandon 2,000-year-old belief system — Pitbull owners may be last hope for California Democrats — States cannot waste money fast enough (more)

If Education Secretary Arne Duncan has his way, kids would be spending a lot more time at school — and a three-month summer would be a thing of the past. (more)

Congressman David Obey hasn’t made a secret of his contempt for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. But on Friday, the Fiscal Times published an interview transcript in which the retiring House Appropriations Committee chairman unloaded both barrels on the former head of Chicago’s public school system. (more)

WASHINGTON — (AP) Facing criticism from House Democrats, President Barack Obama promised their leaders Wednesday night that he’ll actively support their agenda and Democratic lawmakers as they head into tough midterm elections this fall, according to a congressional leadership aide. (more)

Dr. Patrick Wolf spoke to a packed audience in the Capitol Visitors Center last Monday. (more)

With the nation focused on the spill in the Gulf and hearings with oil executives this week, Democrats in Congress have a tiny amount of breathing room to try to move two enormous spending bills through. (more)