U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was in northeast Iowa Friday, April 24, making three appearances. His first stop was at Grundy Center Elementary where he participated in Grundy Center's innovative health education program and visited two elementary classrooms.

He then traveled to the University of Northern Iowa where he presented to a large crowd on his vision for education in America. Among the points of emphasis were an endorsement of longer school days and years, tying teacher evaluations to student achievement, and strong support of increasing the number of charter schools.

His final presentation was to a luncheon sponsored by the Iowa Board of Regents. The luncheon was in recognition of 100 years of Board of Regents' governance of Iowa's public universities.