Dive Brief:
- Outgoing U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave his final speech in the position Wednesday in a Chicago church basement, focusing on what he called a "collective failure as adults" to protect children.
- In the speech, Duncan made a direct link between dropping out of high school and teen homicide, saying "Dropping out is one level of hopelessness, and picking up a gun and shooting someone is just that in the extreme."
- Duncan spoke of the all-time peak U.S. high school graduation rate of 82% as an accomplishment, but mentioned a few topics as continual challenges, like the school-to-prison pipeline.
Dive Insight:
"What's harming our children is not just gun violence — it's hopelessness. It's the lack of hope and the disconnectedness that leads children to pick up those guns when they have challenges," Duncan said. USA Today reported that Duncan said "every community plagued by violence is also plagued by high unemployment, under-resourced schools, little economic opportunity, many people returning from prison and few, if any, positive options for young people."
This isn't the first time that Duncan has tackled the issue of gun control. Back in 2013, the U.S. Department of Education had to defend an appearance by Duncan in an anti-gun video, where he was shown talking to a group of inner-city children about their experiences with gun violence. Duncan had also previously aligned himself with college presidents from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in calling for gun control reform, saying "No one has been immune to this epidemic of violence."