Roderick Paige Education Department Established: 1980 2003 Budget: $50.3 billion Full-time Employees: 4,600 Paige's Salary: $171,900 Web Site: www.ed.gov Overall Grade: C Back To Overview And Other Cabinet Grades

National Journal
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Friday, Jan. 24, 2003

Choosing Roderick Paige to head the Education Department seemed like an inspired move by George W. Bush, who campaigned for the presidency pledging to make education reform a top priority. As a former superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, a member of Houston's school board, and a university dean, Paige brought a tremendous amount of hands-on education experience to Washington. Moreover, as an African-American and a former inner-city school administrator, he had the credibility to help sell President Bush's vision for education. And as someone who had worked eagerly on all of the Bush presidential campaigns -- for both father and son -- he held the one quality that the Bush family considers most important: loyalty.

Soon after George W. Bush assumed office, the White House submitted its proposal to overhaul elementary and secondary education. Nearly a year of congressional wrangling produced the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandates reading and math tests for students in grades three through eight and punishes failing schools. One of Paige's responsibilities is serving as a goodwill ambassador for this law; he's also charged with helping states implement its mandates. In addition, he will be busy handling upcoming reauthorizations for other education programs, plus the continued fight over education funding.

But in his first two years on the job, Paige has received -- at best -- mixed reviews. Despite all of his education experience, Paige, 69, isn't seen as much of a player inside the Bush administration. His role in shaping the No Child Left Behind Act was, by all accounts, minor, and the act's implementation has been slow and uneven. Members of Congress and congressional aides wonder about his authority to speak for the administration on sensitive policy issues. And morale in the Education Department is in the dumps, amid tensions between career bureaucrats and political appointees. "I think Paige just doesn't get Washington," said one senior Democratic congressional aide.

Still, critics and supporters alike express admiration for Paige's loyalty, his success in turning around Houston's schools, and his efforts to sell education reform around the country. "He has great credibility with educators and with policy makers on the Hill as someone who knows how to get policy implemented and make change," asserted Margaret Spellings, the head of the White House's Domestic Policy Council.

Inside Influence Grade: D
Given his experience and his previous dealings with Bush in Texas, you'd think that Paige would have a lot of input within the administration on education issues. He is certainly on good terms with the president. The two speak regularly, says Spellings. Paige takes it a step further: "I don't think that any secretary of Education has had the personal relationship or the personal interface with the president that I have," he told National Journal. But in the first two years of the administration, the evidence suggests that when it comes to education policy, the White House calls the shots.

During the congressional negotiations over the No Child Left Behind Act, for example, the administration's point person was Sandy Kress, a White House education adviser who has since returned to Austin to work as a consultant. "He's the one who went to the meetings and had the conversations that were consequential," said a Washington education expert. During an education meeting with governors in North Carolina in December, Paige made his presentation, but he turned over many of the questions to Spellings. The impression among observers was pretty clear: Spellings -- not Paige -- was the real player.

And even when it comes to the rules issued by the Education Department to implement the No Child Left Behind Act, the White House seems to be playing an unusually prominent role. One longtime education figure was startled to see a White House aide sitting down with Education officials virtually every day during important rule-making. "To a certain degree, it's natural, when an issue is a very high priority for the White House, that they would want to be involved," this person said. "It's that they haven't backed off and let someone else take charge, and that's where I've been surprised."

Hill Clout Grade: D
If Paige's influence within the administration has been minimal, his clout on Capitol Hill hasn't been any greater. Congressional insiders say that Paige is rarely impressive when he testifies before a congressional committee, particularly once he has delivered his prepared remarks. In addition, Democrats complain that Paige has done little to reach out to them; they say that Democratic members get a call from him only when they request it. Even some GOP aides give him tepid reviews, saying that Paige doesn't have nearly the Hill presence of his predecessor, Richard Riley.

Critics also charge that Paige has failed to address some of the problems associated with No Child Left Behind. Under the legislation, students from failing schools have the right to transfer to better schools. But what happens if these good schools have no room? According to these critics, Paige understood this concern but his efforts to address it were overruled by the White House.

Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee and perhaps Paige's biggest defender on the Hill, says that Paige is getting a bum rap. "He's an educator -- he's not a politician," Boehner said. "A lot of people want to judge him based on their view of Washington politics. You just can't do that. It doesn't give you an honest picture of what kind of person he is. He's honest, he's unassuming, and he's selfless -- three traits that are hard to come by in Washington."

Paige admits that he still doesn't know as many members of Congress as he'd like to, but he stresses that he has good relationships with those he does know. "It is a fact that this is a new experience for me. But I don't think that's a handicap.... I intend to broaden my contact with members."

Political Imperatives Grade: B
David Winston, a GOP pollster, has discovered that when Republicans talk about education issues, their overall poll numbers climb; when they don't, their numbers fall. So it's no surprise that Paige has spent much of his tenure talking up the Republican message on education. According to Paige's press office, he has traveled to 56 cities in 30 states and has given 150 speeches or presentations to newspaper editorial boards -- all in an effort to sell the president's vision for education.

It's also important to the White House that Bush's education bill works and is implemented smoothly. If the states have a difficult time applying No Child Left Behind, or if students' test scores don't improve, the president could receive flak in the 2004 campaign.

Thus far, Paige has gotten fairly good marks from the states for his efforts in helping them implement the landmark bill. State officials credit him for going out of his way to meet with the chief state school officers, and for keeping an open line of communication with them. "I could pick up the phone if I had a question and call him," said Nancy Grasmick, Maryland's state superintendent of schools, "and I would get an answer."

But some state officials complain that the department has moved too slowly in issuing its regulations and that it has sent mixed signals about implementation. Some interest groups that have criticized some of Bush's education policies say that Paige and his aides have shut them out. "I think the administration would be better served if people weren't branded as permanent enemies if they disagree," said Paul Houston, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators.

Paige says it's not surprising that there have been some kinks in implementing No Child Left Behind. "This is probably the most complex piece of education legislation to ever come out of Congress." As to Paul Houston's criticism, Paige questions whether groups such as the American Association of School Administrators truly represent their members. Paige says that his door "is open to all groups who want to move student achievement forward."

Running The Department Grade: D
By most accounts, morale at the Education Department is low. Career staffers, including some who have served under previous Republican presidents, complain that the department's political appointees shun them and have stripped them of some of their responsibilities. "The agency runs, on a day-to-day basis, on career people. If you eliminate them from the equation, you eliminate some wisdom and historical perspective," said one career bureaucrat.

Some staffers also complain that Paige is rarely accessible from his perch on the department's seventh floor, and they say that he and the other political appointees don't listen to them. Moreover, employees say that there's a divide between Paige's people from Houston and Bush's people from Austin -- and that the Houstonians seem to have little influence inside the department. Others note, however, that the secretary is visible working out in the department's gym and that he has a monthly lunch with a handful of selected employees.

Paige says he believes the department is running smoothly. When he inherited the department, he says, complaints about employees' stealing money and abusing credit cards were common. Those things have stopped, Paige says. He attributes the gripes coming from the career bureaucrats to unhappiness with change. "We represent a change from the earlier administration," Paige said. "There have been some very scarce complaints, I think, about some of the changes that ... have reduced the amount of freedom that some people have had in making policy."

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