Even before President-elect Obama makes Arne Duncan’s selection as education secretary official, early reaction around the blogsphere is very positive. A sampling:

“Golden era for charter schools"—Over at Flypaper, Mike Petrilli has five interesting observations about Duncan: that his selection is good for charter and private schools but bad for governors (although I might have to quibble with his assertion that the era of gubernatorial leadership in education is over). Meanwhile, Checker Finn’s first observations are that he’s a terrific pick.

“Who would replace Arne?"—Wonder folks in Chicago, including Alexander Russo, who also details Duncan’s strengths and weaknesses. Among his strengths: improved test scores, great public-speaking ability, and the kind of staying power a lot of other urban sups don’t have. Among his weaknesses: Hasn’t been a candidate for the Broad Prize and failed to win concessions from the Chicago Teachers Union.

“A relief to Linda Darling-Hammond"—Diane Ravitch notes this at Bridging Differences, referring to the editorial page firestorm that’s been raging over LDH, Obama’s main education transition point person.

“A fan” of NCLB—So says our own David Hoff.