Education Secretary Arne Duncan is in Colorado for what the Obama Administration is billing as a first of its kind summit between teachers and administrators.
The former chief of the Chicago Public Schools also swung through northeast Denver’s Manual High School where he held a forum with faculty and students about college financial aid.
"It’s not about how much money that you have, or what neighborhood you come from, or whether you’ve had family members that have gone to college before or not," Duncan said. "If you work hard, those resources will be there, federal money, private money, we’re going to make sure that every student who wants to go to college has that opportunity."
Duncan says the Obama Administration is committed to putting billions of new federal dollars into financial aid and other Pell grants for low-income students.
The Secretary’s visit to Colorado Tuesday comes as Governor John Hickenlooper announced a proposed $375 million cut to state public school funding.