US Education Secretary Comes To Md., Explains His Top Concerns

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Tough questions for the nation's education secretary Arne Duncan. He hosted a special town hall meeting for parents and teachers in Annapolis.

Gigi Barnett explains his top concerns include more Pre-K across the nation and getting rid of No Child Left Behind.

"How can you encourage schools like ours to be able to not just have kids learn about credit card interest rates but how to act in the stock market," said parent Janet Norman.

A hard question to answer but US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says many parents across the country have the same concerns. He fielded questions Wednesday from parents and teachers at a town hall meeting in Annapolis. They could ask him anything---and they did.

"For special education in non-public schools and even in traditional schools, what support are we providing in terms of funding?" said parent Valerie Holland.

Just last month, the nation's top educator asked Congress members on both sides of the aisle to repeal the No Child Left Behind act. Duncan calls it unfair and outdated. In its place, he wants more Pre-K classes for the nation's youngest students and fewer standardized tests in schools. That's a goal that some parents in the crowd already support.

"You were quoted as saying you believe standardized tests suck all the air out of the room. I'm wondering if you really believe that and if so, can you take some time to examine it before we use our children as guinea pigs?" said one parent.

The town hall could be a rallying of the troops---of sorts. Duncan says he also wants to push for more funding to boost parental involvement, the first teachers a child knows.

"We want to make sure that schools and communities have more resources to engage parents, not around feel-good stuff, not around just bake sales but what are parental programs doing to raise graduation rates?" Duncan said.

Two other top concerns for parents: boosting the standards of education in Maryland by adding more advanced classes and adding better teachers to the state. Duncan says he agrees with those concerns.