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Department of Education
The fight for Secretary of Education now looks much less exciting. While former General and Secretary of State Colin Powell was seen as a dark horse favorite for the position, his self-recusal from any role in the new administration has left the door wide open for New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein ’71. Klein, who graduated from Columbia and HLS magna cum laude before clerking for Justice Powell, has been in charge of the country’s largest school district since 2002. In the role, he’s earned his fair share of admirers - and enemies. Controversially, he invited the city police to help impose order in schools. He also led the effort to expel Obama friend Rashid Khalidi, a moderate Middle East historian, from a public service program in city schools - based on a misapprehension of Khalidi similar to that employed by the partisan right during the waning days of the presidential campaign. The President-elect may yet choose to go with a fresher (and less entangled) figure.
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