Spellings is new Education Secretary 

President Bush has named his Domestic Policy Adviser and former Texas School Boards Association advocate Margaret Spellings to replace departing Education Secretary Rod Paige in the country’s top education job. The president announced the appointment this morning. Calling Spellings “an energetic reformer,” the president said his new education secretary has a special passion for children.

Spellings, whose voice quivered with emotion as she spoke of her commitment to America’s schools, promised to continue promoting the president’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Increasing numbers of public school advocates across the country are voicing criticism of the sweeping federal legislation that mandates extensive standardized testing and sets performance standards for schools that critics say will be impossible to meet.

CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin said he is optimistic that Spellings’ work as Associate Executive Director of the Texas Association of School Boards gives her the perspective to understand why some aspects of the NCLB requirements don’t make sense.

"Secretary Spellings has a rare gift — she knows firsthand the important role that locally elected school boards play in their communities,” Plotkin said. “We're all on the same side when it comes to embracing accountability and closing the achievement gap for our young people. We're confident that her appointment will allow school boards from across the country to open up meaningful dialogue once and for all — which regrettably has not always been open. It's time that we have the opportunity to finally engage in the kind of policy — not political — discussions that are absolutely necessary to address the many challenges facing public schools, especially when we talk about the No Child Left Behind Act. We're looking forward to working with Secretary Spellings on the national level, as we move forward in our own California schools campaign to Fix NCLB," said Plotkin.

“In a state like California with more than 6 million public schoolchildren, Secretary Spellings' values about local control, accountability and student achievement are paramount if we are to truly close the academic achievement gap."

Key CSBA staff and association officers have worked with Spellings in the past, both during her tenure with the Texas Association of School Boards and in her role as Domestic Policy Adviser to the president. As Domestic Policy Adviser, Spellings met with members of CSBA’s Federal Issues Council during advocacy visits to the White House.