Vol. 42, No. 9
February 25, 2008
CONTACT: JIM MORRIS |
U.S. Secretary of Education Meets with
State Education Officials for the First Time
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings stopped in Jefferson City last week (Feb. 21) for a first-ever meeting with members of the State Board of Education.
Despite being greeted by a mid-Missouri snowstorm, Secretary Spellings attended the regular monthly meeting of the State Board of Education where she gave brief remarks about No Child Left Behind. She engaged in a question-and-answer session with board members and Commissioner of Education D. Kent King for about 45 minutes.
Along with Commissioner King and State Board of Education President Russell Thompson, Secretary Spellings also held a brief news conference before departing.
Mrs. Spellings is in the middle of a multi-state tour to mark the sixth anniversary of the passage of the No Child Left Behind act and to seek suggestions from state education officials about ways the federal government can support state efforts to improve academic achievement.
“Missouri is helping raise the bar by setting high standards and developing a strong data system that honestly and accurately looks at student achievement and helps target federal resources to the neediest students,” she said in a prepared statement for the meeting in Jefferson City.
When asked if she thought that Congress would re-authorize (renew) the No Child Left Behind this year, Secretary Spellings said, “Who knows?” She said she is hopeful that Congress will act to renew and fine-tune the law, which has been the centerpiece of President Bush’s domestic-policy agenda. But she acknowledged that it will be difficult for Congress to act on the complex law in an election year.