"I feel very, very badly for the children there," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan this week. No, he wasn't talking about underprivileged children in South America, malnourished kids in Africa, or children in war-ravished regions throughout the world. No, the Secretary was referring to children in Texas. According to Bloomberg News:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Texas' school system "has really struggled" under Gov. Rick Perry…and the states' substandard schools do a disservice to children. "Far too few of their high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college. I feel very, very badly for children there."
Perhaps Duncan is upset with Texas for rejecting Race to the Top, or for state leaders guarding their state's educational authority by rejecting national standards, or for questioning the Obama Administration's continued executive overreach.

Examining the state's current academic standing relative to the rest of the country makes one wonder why Duncan feels "very, very badly" for the children in Texas in particular."