EDUCATION SECRETARY RODERICK PAIGE
71 years old.
Born June 17, 1933.
EDUCATIONBachelor's degree, Jackson State University.
Master's degree, Ph.D. Indiana University.
EXPERIENCE Education secretary, 2001-present. (Seventh education secretary, first black person to serve in the job).
Houston Independent School District superintendent, 1994-2001.
Houston school board member, 1989-94, elected president in 1992.
Dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University.
Head football coach at Texas Southern University.
TENUREDefended No Child Left Behind Act.
Urged to resign by the National Education Association.
Supported private-school vouchers. (During his term, the first federally-supported voucher experiment began in the District of Columbia).
POSSIBLE REPLACEMENTMargaret Spellings, Bush's domestic policy adviser who helped shape his school agenda when he was Texas governor.
FAMILYDivorced.
Children: one son.
QUOTESAfter calling the National Education Association a "terrorist organization" last February, Paige he described his choice of words "inappropriate" to describe the "obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against the No Child Left Behind" Act's reforms.
He added: "Our nation's teachers, who have dedicated their lives to service in the classroom, are the real soldiers of democracy, whereas the NEA's high-priced Washington lobbyists have made no secret that they will fight against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate our children regardless of skin color, accent or where they live."
PERSONALGrew up in segregated Mississippi.
Wore cowboy boots to work.
Background: 
