Looking Ahead
So what lies ahead?
Some believe that the results in Houston, based on McNeil's research, could repeat themselves in the national arena, such as in so-called high-stakes testing.
"Paige promotes an agenda that reduces schooling to test coaching," says Monty Neill, executive director of the Cambridge, Mass.-based FairTest, which argues that test scores don't necessarily equal merit. Among other things, the nonprofit FairTest also works to eliminate what it perceives as racial and cultural barriers to equal opportunity posed by standardized tests.
"He pushes an agenda that does not help recent immigrants, minorities, kids of color and poor kids," sums up Neill. "It is not the agenda of civil rights groups or the Black or Latino caucuses in Congress. Paige has been heavily promoting testing and using Texas as proof that it works. Many children will be left behind. I believe in accountability, but like many people, I'm concerned about teaching to the test. It's shallow."
"Paige has made some speeches on the national scene, but there have been no questions asked of him," Neill says. "He's stiffing education." 
Meanwhile, others counter that Paige is a fair administrator who weighs options.
"His success as a superintendent is based on embracing alternative teaching techniques," says Dr. Douglas Reeves, president of the Denver-based International Center for Education Accountability. Reeves has researched Houston's reading programs. "Dr. Paige is not an ideologue. He does not say ‘My way or the highway.' His philosophy is to help kids read better."
Nelms and others suggest Paige could be most effective the remainder of his tenure by forging closer alliances with his counterparts in the Housing, Labor and Health and Human Services departments. "I haven't seen a compendium of issues," Nelms says. "That's the frustration I have, because education is not an isolated initiative." 
— By Lydia Lum