For education, an insider wins out
President Bush's choice as secretary of education may not have a widely recognized name, but Margaret Spellings brings qualifications to the job that few others can boast: She has his trust, a decade-long history of shaping his education policies, and an intimate understanding of the one that tops his agenda--the No Child Left Behind Act. "There are very few people as familiar as she is with the logic and structure of NCLB," says the American Enterprise Institute's Frederick Hess. "She'd be a big asset."
Spellings, 46, is the latest in a string of Bush insiders to take over top policy posts. The president's chief domestic policy aide is known as a tenacious proponent of school reform. As education adviser to then Governor Bush in the mid-1990s, she helped develop Texas's testing program and pushed to end the "social promotion" of failing third graders. "She is absolutely intent on changing the system," says Sandy Kress, an Austin attorney who has known her since 1991. "And she's got unparalleled experience in getting buy-in."
She'll need all those skills to deal with a range of prickly issues from Head Start to higher ed. Many educators complain about a lack of funding for NCLB and what some consider its overly rigid standards. Meanwhile, supporters of school choice fear that she's not in their corner. "I'm concerned that I don't know her position on parental choice, tenure reform, merit pay," says Krista Kafer of the Heritage Foundation. It remains to be seen whether Spellings's clear focus on standards and testing can expand to allow other approaches to reform. -Anne McGrath
This story appears in the November 29, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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