US Education secretary holds Hispanic summit in KC

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Arne Duncan meets with People for the American Way Foundation's Young Elected Officials Network at the Washington Court Hotel on June 3, 2011 in Washington, DC.
Photographer: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for People for the American Way Foundation
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Posted: 09/18/2012

By: Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan headed to Kansas City to lead a town hall meeting on education and the Hispanic community.

The event was held Tuesday evening at the Penn Valley campus of Metropolitan Community College. Duncan was joined by several White House officials and Janet Murguia, chief executive of the National Council of La Raza.

Duncan is the former CEO of the Chicago public school system. He's on a 10-day, cross-country "back-to-school bus tour" that ends Friday in Washington.

He says keeping schools open, even extending hours, is the best way to help our education system and get more parents involved.

"I saw in some of our poorest Latino communities, 100 to 150 coming everyday, not for their children's education, but for their own," Duncan said. "And I promise you when families are learning together and schools are the hearts of the neighborhood, great things are going to happen for kids."

Earlier Tuesday, Duncan visited the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka and lead a town hall session at Emporia State University.