In his remarks on education reform, President Obama touted his 2010 budget blueprint, which, he said, "invests in developing new strategies to make sure at-risk students don't give up on their education; new efforts to give dropouts who want to return to school the help they need to graduate; and new ways to put those young men and women who have left school back on a pathway to graduation."

According to the Chicago Tribune, graduation rates in Chicago rose 6 percent during Education Secretary-designate Arne Duncan's tenure as schools chief.