Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks at the White House in Washington in this 2014 file photo.U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will visit the Chambliss Center on Tuesday for the Chattanooga leg of his fifth annual Back-to-School bus tour.
The U.S. Department of Education says Duncan will visit the classroom of pre-kindergarten teacher Kisha Fifer and read a book to about a dozen 3-year-olds at 5:40 p.m. Tuesday. Afterward, he will host an "Early Learning Town Hall" with about 100 parents, teachers and other stakeholders on what works in effective early learning programs. Those expected to attend include Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, the Chambliss Center's President and CEO Phil Acord and Hamilton County teacher Melanie Morris. The event is open to the public.
The Chambliss Center provides services for more than 650 children across the city through its children's shelter, off-site day care programs and its 24-hour childcare services. Its mission is "to preserve family unity and to help prevent the dependency, neglect, abuse and delinquency of children by responding to the community's childcare needs," according to the organization's website.
Duncan's "Partners in Progress" bus trip is taking him through Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. On Monday, he and First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School. The education secretary will also stop in Carrolton, Ga. On Tuesday, he is attending events in Birmingham and Huntsville before traveling to Chattanooga. And he'll wrap up the tour Wednesday with events in Nashville and Memphis.
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