Starting Sept. 12, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and senior leaders from the U.S. Department of Education begin the third annual “Back-to-School Bus Tour” that will visit 12 states to discuss school reform and the link between education and jobs.
While the type of bus on which Department of Education staff will be riding is not a school bus, the tour will begin in Redwood City, Calif., before moving on to Sacramento and then Reno and Elko, Nev. From there, the bus will make stops in Salt Lake City; Rawlins, Rock Springs and Cheyenne, Wyo.; Denver and Limon, Colo.; Topeka and Emporia, Kan.; Kansas City and Columbia, Mo.; Mt. Vernon, Ill.; Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Charleston and McDowell County, W.Va.; Roanoke and Richmond, Va.
The tour will conclude at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21.
“America’s future is directly linked to the quality of education that we provide our children, young people and adults,” said Duncan. “It is the key to a vibrant middle class, strong national security and our global economic competitiveness.”
Senior education department officials will also participated in more than 60 satellite events during the September tour. The tour first was held in 2010 and included the Mississippi Delta region in the South and the Northeast. Last year, the tour covered the Midwest from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin.
