President-elect Obama will officially nominate Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education at a 10:45 a.m. CT press conference today. Teachers unions and education reform advocates had been awaiting this announcement anxiously, as Obama's choice signals the types of education policies his administration will push for.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder writes that Duncan has so far "managed the political hat trick of winning praise from the education reform community, the unions, and is well-liked by parents, too."

Reader's Digest's Carl Cannon gives a brief history of education policy in the Democratic Party and concludes what Obama's selection could mean for education going forward:

Although it attracted insufficient notice in the mainstream media, a dispiriting thing occurred after Bill Clinton left the presidency: Democrats, with some notable exceptions, essentially turned their backs on the idea of employing tough love to improve the nation's public schools. This was predictable, I suppose, given the power that the teachers' unions wield in the Democratic Party. Clinton attempted to challenge that orthodoxy, both as a candidate and as a president, with too little to show for it.

[snip]

This is an appointment with the potential to break the gridlock on education reform, remove it from the realm of partisanship, and redeem the hopes of those whose real concern is what everyone's ought to be: On the school-kids of America. The new guy's name is Arne Duncan, and his selection is an impressive sign for several reasons.