An issue of national importance

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has thrown his support behind interim D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, interjecting the Obama administration into one of the most important school posts in the country. 

While Duncan told The Washington Post that he doesn't "want to micromanage this thing" he also acknowledged that as soon as former chancellor Michelle Rhee left, "I called and said, 'Let's put Kaya in there.'"

There will be those who say that the White House shouldn't try to exert influence over local decisions — even in the District of Columbia. But right or wrong, the mere fact that Duncan cares so deeply about who sits in the D.C. chancellor's chair is an indication of just how far the movement to improve our schools has come over the past decade. 

Put simply, the question of who will lead the education of the students in cities like Washington, D.C., has become an issue of national importance. 

And well it should be.

And well as it should have been all along.