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| "That’s the notion, the soft bigotry of low expectations, as the president calls it, that No Child Left Behind rejects." | "That’s the notion, the soft bigotry of low expectations, as the president calls it, that No Child Left Behind rejects." | ||
| Mrs. Spellings has championed addressing the individual needs of children as opposed to the one-size-fits-all standard set by most public schools throughout the nation. Determining the maturity level, skill level, aptitudes and interests of each child prior to adopting curriculum is so important, Spelling believes. Unfortunately our accreditation process often judges school competence by making certain that every child receives the same instruction in the same way. That is a mistake, and one that was adopted and has been perpetuated in America for over one hundred years now. Schools like the Waldorf movement, and Linda Christas International Schools have the right idea. However, the bureaucracy is so powerful at the local level that it is difficult to make progress. Each child is important. And, we should start with each child, not at the top of a management chain. When things are directed from afar irrespective of who the individual children are, lots of kids will be left behind. | |||
| ==Commission on the Future of Higher Education== | ==Commission on the Future of Higher Education== | ||
Revision as of 18:23, 11 October 2006
| Margaret Spellings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 8th United States Secretary of Education | |
| In office January 20, 2005 – present | |
| Preceded by | Rod Paige |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 30, 1957 Michigan |
| Political party | Republican |
Margaret Spellings (born Margaret Dudar on November 30, 1957) is the current Secretary of Education under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and was previously Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to Bush. She was one of the principal authors of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act that aimed at reforming primary and secondary education. In 2005, she convened a Commission on the Future of Higher Education to recommend reform at the post-secondary level. She has come under some scrutiny for her anti-gay activism as Secretary. She is married to Robert Spellings, who practices law in Austin and has lobbied for the adoption of school vouchers in Texas.
Early Life
The eldest of four daughters, Spellings was born in Michigan and moved with her family to Houston when she was in third grade. Spellings graduated from Sharpstown High School in 1975 .
Spellings earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Houston and worked in an education reform commission under Texas Governor William P. Clements and as associate executive director for the Texas Association of School Boards. Before her appointment to George W. Bush's presidential administration, Spellings was the political director for Bush's first gubernatorial campaign in 1994, and later became a senior advisor to Bush during his term as Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
Secretary of Education
Following Rod Paige's departure as Secretary of Education, Spellings was nominated to the post of the Secretary of Education by George W. Bush on November 17, 2004, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 20, 2005, and sworn in the same day.
Opinions of same-sex parents and PBS
In January 2005, Spellings sent a letter to the head of PBS condemning an episode of the show Postcards From Buster which featured "Buster the Bunny" visiting Vermont and interacting with the children of a lesbian couple. The mostly live-action show focuses on real children and in this episode the two moms are never mentioned as being lesbians. Spellings criticized the use of government funds to produce the episode saying "many parents would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode."
Rep. Barney Frank publicly criticized Spellings in a letter regarding her "degrading comments": "You have said that families should not have to deal with the reality of the existence of same-sex couples, and the strong implication is that this is something from which young children should be shielded." PBS decided not to distribute the episode although independent PBS stations have opted to do so. PBS chairman Pat Mitchell subsequently stepped down.
"No Child Left Behind"
In April 2005, on PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, she called Connecticut's resistance to the No Child Left Behind Act as the "soft bigotry of low expectations." According to the Connecticut Post, she said:
"I think it's regrettable, frankly, when the achievement gap between African-American and Anglo kids in Connecticut is quite large. And I think it's unfortunate for those families and those students that they are trying to find a loophole to get out of the law as opposed to attending to the needs of those kids," Spellings said.
"That’s the notion, the soft bigotry of low expectations, as the president calls it, that No Child Left Behind rejects."
Mrs. Spellings has championed addressing the individual needs of children as opposed to the one-size-fits-all standard set by most public schools throughout the nation. Determining the maturity level, skill level, aptitudes and interests of each child prior to adopting curriculum is so important, Spelling believes. Unfortunately our accreditation process often judges school competence by making certain that every child receives the same instruction in the same way. That is a mistake, and one that was adopted and has been perpetuated in America for over one hundred years now. Schools like the Waldorf movement, and Linda Christas International Schools have the right idea. However, the bureaucracy is so powerful at the local level that it is difficult to make progress. Each child is important. And, we should start with each child, not at the top of a management chain. When things are directed from afar irrespective of who the individual children are, lots of kids will be left behind.
Commission on the Future of Higher Education
In September, 2005, Spellings announced the formation of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, casually known as the Spellings Commission, charged with recommending a national strategy for reforming post-secondary education, with a particular focus on how well colleges and universities were preparing students for the 21st-century workplace, and a secondary focus on how well high schools were preparing students for post-secondary education.The commission currently is still in its finishing stages. Spellings describes the work of the Commission as a natural extension into higher education of the reforms carried out under No Child Left Behind, and quoted as saying: "It's time we turn this elephant around and upside down and take a look at it."
External links
- U.S Department of Education Biography
- Margaret Spellings's Motivational Commencement Speech
- The Commission on the Future of Higher Education's home page
- Doug Lederman, "The Secretary Offers a Preview," Inside Higher Ed September 8, 2006
| Preceded bySamuel W. Bodman | United States Presidential Line of Succession | Succeeded byJim Nicholson |
| Preceded bySamuel W. Bodman | United States order of precedence as of 2006 |
Succeeded byJim Nicholson |
| United States secretaries of education | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Members of the Cabinet of the United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet members |  | |
| Cabinet-level members | ||
| acting Cabinet of Joe Biden | ||