Marshall here. Welcome back to the realignment. My guest today is John B. King,

former Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama and current Chancellor of the State

University of New York, the country's biggest comprehensive system of public higher education.

He has a new book out today, teacher by teacher, the people who change our lives.

In today's conversation, John and I discussed President Trump's plans to eliminate the Department

of Education, whether it will come back under a Democratic administration, why the country's

education reform movement and debates over

no child left behind, race to the top, charter schools, teacher pay, and vouchers stalled.

Finally, we discussed the 2020's classroom culture wars and why he's still bullish on DEI

and race discussions in K-12 settings.

Huge thank you to the Foundation for American Innovation for supporting the work of this podcast.

Chancellor John B. King, welcome to The Realignment.

Thanks so much.

Excited to talk with you.

I'm very excited to talk with you, too.

You are the perfect

person to discuss all things, education policy, everything from the K-12 level to the higher-ed

level. How about we just get a quick summary of your background, including your time in the

Obama administration as the final secretary of education in the administration?

Sure. Started out as a high school social studies teacher and as a middle school principal,

led a network of schools through the Uncommon Schools, which is a national charter school

network, very high performing schools, led that network in New York City, and then got into state government,

...