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The Honorable Rod Paige Speaks on the President's Accomplishments in Education COLUMBUS, OH - On Thursday, May 27, 2004, the Honorable Rod Paige joined U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, Ohio Bush-Cheney '04 Educators for Bush Chair Dr. George Tombaugh, members of the "Educators for Bush" leadership team and Bush-Cheney '04 supporters to announce the national "Educators for Bush" team. The press conference highlighted the President's strong record on education reform and contrasted Sen. John Kerry's record on education issues. "President Bush has set a bold vision for American education - a vision that sets clear goals for student achievement and then...

PRESS RELEASES Bush Official Visits Camden School to Celebrate Brown V. Board of Education 50th Anniversary FOR RELEASE: May 6, 2004 Contact: Susan Aspey (202) 401-1576 More Resources Secretary's Speech on Brown v. Board Bush Official Visits Tampa School to Celebrate Brown v. Board U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today hailed the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education—the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation in the nation's public schools—calling the ruling one of the most important legal decisions in the history of the United States. Deputy Associate Undersecretary Michael Petrilli represented Secretary Paige in...

WASHINGTON - A 13-year-old eighth-grader from Dallas nailed "pococurante" to win the 76th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on Thursday. It was Sai Gunturi's fourth time in the competition. "I studied it," a beaming Sai said of the word after winning the contest, $12,000 and other prizes. "That's why I was kind of laughing." The word means indifferent or nonchalant. Sai plays the violin and studies Indian classical music. His father, Sarma, is a chemical engineer and his mother, Lakshmi, is a homemaker. Last year, Sai tied for seventh place. He tied for 16th place in 2001 and tied for...

Paige Renews Commitment to Hispanic Colleges and Universities U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today renewed the department's commitment to expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic students by signing an agreement with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). The announcement was made at HACU's annual Capital Forum in Washington, D.C. "We must open the door to postsecondary education for more Hispanic students and take steps to ensure that they have the skills, confidence and resources to complete their studies," Secretary Paige said. "Today, I am pleased to sign an agreement that will strengthen our partnership with HACU to...

AUSTIN -- U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige told a Texas education reform group Monday night that education should be viewed as a social service that can address many social problems. In his address to the nonprofit Texas Education Reform Foundation, Paige, former superintendent of Houston schools, pointed to a recent study that shows young men without proper educations are more likely to be in prison, on probation or on parole. Improving education, he said, can "improve economic development and improve the social fabric of a community." Through local partnerships, the community -- not just parents -- can benefit from helping...

Memo to Editorial WritersMonday, March 22 @ 20:15:01 Secretary Paige sent this memo to editorial writers on March 11, 2004 To: Editorial Writers From: U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige Re: No Child Left Behind Implementation No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been in the news a great deal in recent weeks. Our country has undertaken an important new course in terms of its commitment to educate every child, regardless of skin color, spoken accent or zip code. Educating close to 50 million children in a big, complex nation like the United States is bound to be a dynamic...

<p>ASSOCIATED PRESS Students in the largest urban public-school systems showed improvement in reading and math in the first year under the federal No Child Left Behind law, according to a coalition of inner-city schools.</p> <p>The study by the Council of the Great City Schools reviewed test scores from 61 urban school districts in 37 states. It compared 2002 and 2003 test results.</p>

(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series examining the clash between the Bush administration and the nation's largest teachers' union.) (CNSNews.com) - U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige's recent criticism of the National Education Association was an election-year ploy designed to fire up the conservative base, according to a current and a former lobbyist at the NEA Randall J. "Randy" Moody, currently the NEA's chief lobbyist, told CNSNews.com that Paige's labeling of the union as "obstructionist" was an unfair attack. The union wants changes to the No Child Left Behind Act, the bipartisan education law enacted in 2002. "Our...

Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on Controlling Obesity in Children and Adolescents March 12, 2004 Contact: Carlin Hertz (202) 401-1576 FDA Report on Obesity U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige issued the following statement on the report released today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on addressing the nation's obesity problem. The report, Calories Count: Report of the Working Group on Obesity, outlines an action plan to combat obesity, including obesity in America's young people. "The FDA's report sheds light on the fastest-growing cause of disease and death in America and what we can do...

Liberal groups on Monday plan to launch a petition drive, urging President Bush to fire Education Secretary Rod Paige. Paige recently apologized for a remark in which he described the National Education Association as a "terrorist organization." But MoveOn.org and another group called Campaign for America's Future are not accepting Paige's apology. "Parents, teachers and students across the country are outraged that the Bush administration is attacking teachers instead of listening to them to ensure a high-quality public education to every child," the groups said in a joint press release announcing the launch of Monday's petition drive. Paige made the...

<p>March 6, 2004 -- U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige - in hot water for calling the National Education Association a "terrorist" organization last month - received a standing ovation yesterday from nearly 1,000 members of the Black Alliance for Education Options in Milwaukee. The Black Alliance - which supports charter schools, home schooling and other educational reforms aimed at helping black youth - remained on its feet for five minutes after Paige was introduced, one participant told Post State Editor Fredric U. Dicker, adding, "Everyone I talked to agreed with him that the NEA is an obstacle to education reform. So when a man tells the truth, he needs to be supported."</p>

<p>The Massachusetts teacher of the year refused to attend an event in Washington honoring the nation's top educators because US Education Secretary Rodney Paige had called the nation's largest teachers' union a "terrorist organization."</p> <p>Jeffrey R. Ryan, a history teacher at Reading Memorial High School who lost a friend in the Sept. 11 attacks, said he could not accept Paige's apology for the Feb. 23 remark about the 2.7-million-member National Education Association.</p>

What do Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle have in common? Well, nothing and everything. You see, Paige recently told the National Association of Governors that America's teachers' unions were akin to "terrorist organizations." Oops. Democrats inside the room and out - Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the never mean nor bashing Democratic National Committee, for one - fought over who could get to a microphone first and utter words of contempt for the secretary. Apologies were demanded all around - by union leaders, presidential contenders, people wandering aimlessly around the scene of the crime...

<p>More on yesterday's item about the Democratic National Committee (DNC) adding 3 million U.S. teachers to the State Department's list of foreign terrorists that includes al Qaeda and Hamas — doing so after Education Secretary Rod Paige described the National Education Association (NEA) as a "terrorist organization."</p>

Is NEA a 'terrorist organization'? Posted: February 27, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Brannon Howse© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com On Feb. 23, 2004, at the National Governor's Association meeting in D.C., United States Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the National Education Association "a terrorist organization." The firestorm has started and Paige will be asked to apologize – but should he? Before the NEA gets up on their soap box about being called a terrorist organization, they should remember that they and many of their liberal members have spent years hurling insults at moms, dads, taxpayers and teachers that have been fighting for traditional academics...

Paige has had hell to pay this week for comparing the largest U.S. teachers' union to a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting. The New York Times called the remark "staggeringly stupid." And indeed, it wasn't the smartest thing to say, even if in jest, because it puts the unions on the defensive allowing them to create the sort of self-righteous noise that detracts the public from real education reform. That said, the remark was right (even if it wasn't politically correct). The two largest unions, the AFT and NEA, hold public education system hostage. They are fundamentally...

<p>A glimpse of the softer side of Donald H. Rumsfeld unexpectedly pops up on page 131 of "Rumsfeld's War," the new book on the tough-minded defense secretary by Rowan Scarborough, defense and national security reporter for The Washington Times.</p> <p>Mr. Scarborough writes that Mr. Rumsfeld surprised his wife, Joyce, on her 70th birthday Sept. 18, 2002, with a book about her consisting of photographs that he compiled and a narrative that he wrote. He called it "Joyce Rumsfeld: A Joy to the World," had it printed in brown hardcover and gave copies to the couple's three children and other family members.</p>

Education Secretary Rod Paige compared the nation's teachers to terrorists, looking to shift blame for the Bush administration's failures that are leaving millions of children behind. The White House faces increasing pressure over President Bush's broken promises regarding the No Child Left Behind Act, with a growing number of states taking action to opt out of the law's unfunded mandates. Speaking in a private meeting with governors from around the country on February 23, Paige described the National Education Association, the nation's largest organization of teachers (with 3 million members), as a "terrorist organization." Paige has previously said that teachers...

Education should be about children, not partisan politics. Yet, sadly, there has been a lot of political posturing on this issue lately. It may be inevitable during an election year. I admit that last week I, too, ratcheted up the debate with a very poor word choice to describe the leadership of the nation's largest teachers union. I chose my words carelessly, and I am truly sorry for the hurt and confusion they caused. I especially want to be clear on one point. As ill-considered as my words were, my disappointment was directed only -- and I mean only --...

ORLANDO - Education Secretary Rod Paige again apologized Friday for calling a teachers union a "terrorist organization," yet repeated his criticism that the National Education Association obstructs federal education policies. "In this post 9/11 world, the word I used obviously has a grave and sad meaning," Paige said at a convention of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "I wish I had used different words to express my point, and for the insensitive choice of words, I express my deepest regrets." Paige touched off the controversy Monday, when he made the "terrorist" remark at a gathering of governors. The...