According to the Associated Press, John King will be acting Education Secretary for the remainder of the Obama administration following the announcement of Arne Duncan's plans to resign from the position this upcoming December.

This appointment, says The 74, is indication that Obama intends on pushing for the passing of the rewrite to the long-expired No Child Left Behind act.

Currently, King is an adviser of K-12 programs for the Education Department, and his appointment over "Undersecretary Ted Mitchell, who focuses on higher education issues, signals the administration’s continued push for a rewrite of No Child Left Behind," the article said.

Before his surprise resignation, Duncan admitted he anticipated a reform of NCLB to be less likely due to former Speaker of House John Boehner's retirement; he said that the next speaker will be less likely than Boehner to cut bipartisan deals, a crucial element to the rewrite's passing as the warring ideologies need to agree on a final piece of legislation.

The timeliness of the rewrite is so important not only because NCLB has long been expired, but also because as it stands, states are currently operating under a convoluted patchwork of waivers. As the Obama administration reaches its end, it is unpredictable what will happen to those waivers, making a NCLB rewrite critical.

But not all are optimistic that King's appointment will help Congress bring about the major educational legislation change that is so desired.

Politico called the task of guiding state's through a new law via a NCLB rewrite would be a "massive undertaking for a new education secretary." And expert Terry Haute from the from the American Council on Education told the source:

"If you’re hoping to see major educational legislation emerge from the Congress, this year, I would say the jury is still out — and today’s announcement [Arne Duncan's resignation] just further complicates the efforts to get it done.”

Users with access: Take our poll below to voice your opinion on the timeliness of a NCLB rewrite given both Boehner's and Duncan's resignation and King's appointment.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

10/5/2015