U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stopped by Williamsfield School District yesterday afternoon as part of the “Ready for Success” back-to-school bus tour.
Teachers, Area superintendents and Higher Education representatives contributed to a round table discussion with Duncan, as well as Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and Illinois Secretary of Education Dr. Beth Purvis.
Duncan said in a press conference after the roundtable that Williamsfield is an example of innovative open resources for students that should be a model for other schools.
“It’s remarkable to see that a town of 600 with a school district of 300 is literally helping lead the country to where we need to go,” says Duncan. “I think what you see here is visionary leadership, you see folks willing to take risks, you see folks with some courage–not easy. You heard about some of the transitions–transition is always hard and tough, but this is where the world is going. There are over 15,000 school districts that have made this leap. We need examples like this.”
Williamsfield is ahead of many schools in the initiative to move from print textbooks to a digital, open resource education.
Duncan said that this innovation will better prepare students for higher education and even the workforce.
