This op-ed appeared in the Apr. 19, edition of the Washington Post.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that it has entered into a resolution agreement with the White Plains, N.Y., Public Schools.

Did you know that each year in April, America celebrates National Park Week, a chance to hike, learn, share, and give back in the Nation’s nearly 400 National Parks coast-to-coast?

With National College Decision Day (May 1st), just around the corner, many students along with their parents are making the difficult decision on which college to attend in the fall. What factors play a role in this decision? For students it might be the academic reputation of the school, employment opportunities after graduation, and financial assistance.

Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. I'm pleased to be here today to talk with you about President Obama's priorities and plans for the Department of Education. I'm happy we were able to submit the President's 2014 Budget to the Congress last week, and to have this opportunity to talk with you today about some of the President's major proposals.

Recently, a lot of people have been talking about cloud computing and asking what it means to store student information in the cloud.  Unfortunately, confusion and misunderstanding can sometimes cloud the issue (pun intended).  In order to understand the potential risks and opportunities, we should take a minute to understand what it actually means to put data “in the cloud”.

Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” April 9th was Arts Advocacy Day here in Washington, D.C., and thousands of advocates from across the country came to rally in support of arts education programs in our schools, pre-K through high school, that will solve the problem Picasso described.

President Obama has proclaimed April to be Financial Capability Month, and what better time to focus on the range of tools available to students and their families to make smart financial decisions around postsecondary education?

The U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced they will invest the majority of the 2013 Race to the Top funds for a second Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competition. About $370 million will be available this year for states to develop new approaches to increase high-quality early learning opportunities and close the school readiness gap.

Yesterday we kicked off National Environmental Education Week. This year’s theme spotlights ways technology can enhance environmental learning.  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered his perspective in a new public service announcement to celebrate EE Week. “We know so many of the jobs of the future are in the STEM fields,” Duncan said.

It's a pleasure to be here and to participate in the launch of the state's new Early Childhood strategic plan My friend Governor Markell has been an amazing partner and an extraordinary leader for children in Delaware. And Delaware is helping lead the nation where we need to go through its Race to the Top program and its Race to the Top-Early Learning challenge reforms.

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Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. I'm pleased to be here today to talk with you about President Obama's priorities and plans for the Department of Education.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that thirteen states will receive funding to turn around their persistently lowest achieving schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.

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As Education Secretary Arne Duncan often says, budgets aren’t just numbers in a ledger

The Obama Administration continued to prioritize education in the 2014 budget released today by proposing key investments in education that would strengthen the middle class, grow the economy and provide opportunities for success to all Americans – especially our nation's most vulnerable children.