Jacksonville’s KIPP Impact Middle School will receive $500,000 from the federal government to support its music program, the school’s national foundation announced Wednesday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Duncan participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the state’s first Knowledge Is Power Program charter school. He gushed about the college preparatory charter school that features longer school days, Saturday classes twice a month and mandatory summer school. “I want every child in the country to have these kinds of opportunities, where there are such high expectations, where there’s a college-going culture from day one,” Duncan said. “This gives me real reason to hope.” The ceremony took place outside the KIPP facility with the words “there are no shortcuts” on the building and about 200 people in attendance. The federal grant was part of $14 million received by the national KIPP Foundation. The $500,000 will help pay for instruments and music books for the next two years, said Steve Mancini, national spokesman for KIPP. Duncan also visited Rutledge Pearson Elementary School, where he met with Duval County Public Schools officials and visited a third-grade classroom. He lauded Pearson for moving from an F to an A in two years and said great teaching is happening in both charter and public schools. “We just need more great schools in this country, and they come in all different forms and fashions, but I think the elements are identical,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work, there are very high expectations, great principal leadership, passionate teachers.”
The nation’s top educator also reacted to the news of Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s resignation. Rhee became a star of the education reform movement and a lightning rod of controversy for her willingness to fire teachers and her blunt attitude. Duncan was asked if he’d offer Rhee a job. “I don’t know if I’m going to hire her,” Duncan said. “But she’s done a fantastic job. By any measure, D.C. public schools are better today than when she arrived.” KIPP is a national network of public college-preparatory charter schools that target underprivileged students. The network has 99 schools in 20 states with more than 26,000 students. The KIPP school is on McDuff Avenue, at the site of the former Jacksonville greyhound racing park.