David Whitman was the chief speechwriter for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from mid-2009 to November 2014. Prior to that, he covered social policy for U.S. News & World Report for nearly two decades, from 1985 to 2003. He is the author of the award-winning book, Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner City Schools and the New Paternalism (Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2008), a two-year study of six high-performing inner-city secondary schools and their successful educational models. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Atlantic, New Republic, and numerous other publications. Currently, he is president and founder of Whitman Wordsmithing & Communications.