Barack Obama will tap Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan to be his Education Secretary, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

“Obama once again dipped into his Chicago ties to yield a high-level pick for his administration. Duncan — a player on Obama’s Election Day pick-up game — was promoted for the cabinet spot by his professional mentor, John Rogers and two others close to Obama: Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Penny Pritzker, the Chicago business executive who was Obama’s presidential campaign finance director.

“Duncan beat out two educators who were also thought to be in the running: Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City Public Schools ( and an alum of the Clinton Justice Department) and Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University education professor.”

Read the full article here.