PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The United States Education Secretary’s message was the link between education and the economy as he kicked off a three-day bus tour right here in Pittsburgh.

As tougher cuts are made to classrooms in Pittsburgh and around the country, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made his first stop in our city as part of a six-state Education and the Economy tour.

“Our children have one chance to get a good education,” said Duncan. “So, children of Pittsburgh and children around the country, we cannot wait, two, three, four years for better economic times. We have to figure out how to do it now.”

Secretary Duncan met with education leaders, Superintendent Dr. Linda Lane, teachers and parents. The message was simple, doing more with less and creating better outcomes.

Even though Secretary Duncan praised the Pittsburgh school system for setting great examples, he says the stakes are higher and a greater community effort must be made to succeed.

“What I fundamentally believe is that we have to educate ourselves into a better economy,” said Duncan.

“We know in today’s economy, that just that high school education is not enough,” added Dr. Lane. “It’s just simply not enough.”

As the tour continues to several other states, Secretary Duncan enforced that a failure to educate our children effectively could mean a bleak future for the United States economy.

“The battle isn’t with us. The battle is with poverty. The battle is with social failure. The battle’s with unemployment,” said Duncan. “We have to have a vision on how we’re going to overcome those battles together.”

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