News

Education Department

June 28, 2001

By Siobhan Gorman

1980 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20202 202-401-2000 : $42.4 billion : 4,934 The Education Department provides financial assistance to state education agencies and local school districts; supplies grants and loans to college students; oversees programs for adult, occupational, disabled, and American Indian education; conducts education research; and compiles education statistics. Secretary 202-401-3000 Paige's goal is to bring to Washington the best of what he has learned in Texas. As superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, Paige earned a reputation as a moderate, results-oriented administrator. "You might not reach an agreement, but you know he listened," said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Paige, 68, became superintendent in 1994 after having served on Houston's school board. During his tenure as superintendent, test scores climbed and school violence declined. He persuaded many principals to forgo tenure in exchange for performance bonuses, and he instituted a small-scale voucher program. A longtime Bush loyalist, Paige leaned Democratic before he met the Bush family more than two decades ago. He says the family represented "the kind of leadership that I felt was moral and courageous." He worked on all three of the elder Bush's presidential campaigns. And after working with Gov. Bush in Texas, Paige served as an informal adviser to W.'s presidential campaign. As Secretary, Paige often sports cowboy boots as he travels around the country drumming up support for Bush's education initiatives. But some backers of Paige's appointment worry that he's not playing much of a policy role. "People are wondering to what extent he's in the loop," said Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. A graduate of Jackson State University in Mississippi, Paige went on to receive a doctorate in education from Indiana University. He served for a decade as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, where he also coached football. He grew up in a family of educators in Monticello, Miss.

Established:
Address:
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2001 Budget:
Employment:
Web Site:www.ed.gov
Functions:Roderick R. Paige

William D. Hansen
Deputy Secretary
202-401-1000
Hansen, the department's chief operating officer, is well-versed in Bush's education agenda. He headed the President's education transition team and served as a surrogate for Bush during the campaign. His portfolio will include implementing the President's testing and reading programs, fighting budget battles, and cleaning up the department's finances. Hansen, 42, describes his education policy background as "a mosaic." He most recently was executive director and CEO of the Education Finance Council, which lobbies for private lenders of student aid. That credential worries some proponents of the department's direct-lending program, which President Clinton launched. "It would be very strange to believe he would come to the direct-lending debate with an open mind," said one college lobbyist. Hansen served in the Reagan and senior Bush Education Departments, where his posts included assistant secretary for management and budget. And he has advised a number of states on their education reform efforts. A father of six-all of whom attended public schools-he's also a PTA veteran. Hansen is a native of Pocatello, Idaho, and has a bachelor's degree from George Mason University.

Laurie M. Rich
Assistant Secretary (designate) for Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs
202-401-0404
Fluent in the ways of Washington, Rich is charged with helping the federal, state, and local education agencies talk education policy with each other. In many ways, her new job is an extension of her old one. As executive director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations for the past six years, Rich, 47, was responsible for forging consensus among many Texas interests-the governor, as well as the Democratic-controlled Legislature-and representing them in Washington. "She built relationships both in the state and on the Hill that were across-the-aisle," said one former aide. Rich served for a decade in the office of Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and she is a veteran of George H.W. Bush's 1992 campaign, where she was deputy director of coalitions. Rich also helped with press advance at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Former colleagues in Texas's Washington office describe her style as "hands-on and assertive"-one reason, perhaps, that most of her deputies have found Administration jobs, too. A former high school teacher and a gifted gardener, the Dallas native is a graduate of North Texas State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree and a master's in history and government.

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