WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has picked Chicago superintendent of schools Arne Duncan as his nominee for secretary of education, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Duncan has seven years experience as chief executive of Chicago’s public school system, the third largest in the country, and has earned a reputation for addressing issues including how to raise teacher quality and transform weak schools, the newspaper said on its website.

Obama has scheduled a news conference for 11:45 a.m. EST/1645 GMT on Tuesday at an elementary school he and Duncan visited together in October 2005.