Secretary of Education Arne Duncan got upstaged by his boss this morning.

Politics K-12’s Michele, who is over at the Council of Chief State School Officers legislative conference, just called in to tell me President Barack Obama made a surprise stop-over at their conference here in Washington. He gave a quick pep-talk on the importance of higher standards and also said something about “less paperwork.”

UPDATE: The White House Press Pool just released a quick sketch of the President’s visit.
Obama told the crowd that he “hitched a ride with Arne Duncan.”

“I figured I’d stop by and see what all the folks are up to in the states,” he said. “My main message to you is to see us as resource.”