The School of Spellings
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings talks about her push for a major overhaul of higher education.
Tough, passionate and perhaps “terrifying,” U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has been described in many ways during her 14 years working in education for former Texas governor and current U.S. President George W. Bush.
Now, higher education officials will learn for themselves what all the talk has been about. In her final two years as Education Secretary, Spellings is shifting her focus from K-12 to colleges and universities. Much like No Child Left Behind’s unprecedented scale, Spellings is pushing for a major overhaul of financing, assessment, accessibility and perhaps even coursework in higher education.
In an interview with Diverse’s Christina Asquith, Spellings talks about bringing her “business-style accountability” to colleges and universities.
Margaret Spellings
Born in Michigan, raised in Houston
Résumé: Education Reform Commission for Texas Gov. William P. Clements, 1988; Lobbyist, Texas Association of School Boards, 1988-1994; Senior advisor to Gov. George W. Bush, 1995-2000; Assistant to President George W. Bush for Domestic Policy, 2001-2004
Education: B.A., Political Science, University of Houston
DI: A New York Times article last year called you “terrifying” because of the forcefulness with which you pushed No Child Left Behind. Do you take that as a compliment or an insult?
MS: Moi? (laughs) Oh, it’s a compliment. Are you kidding? Absolutely. Well, I went to the “George W. Bush school of public policy management,” which says, “when there are too many goals, there are no goals.”
We have to have priorities and do a few things and do them well. We are very vigorous and righteous, if I may say so, in this national imperative of educating every person. And now we are paying attention to higher education. It’s very critical. It’s gone from being a ‘nice to have’ to an absolute ‘must have’ if you’re going to be employed in this flat world.
