SXSWedu - 2015

KEYNOTE SESSION SXSWedu 2014 65 'm from the Deep South, in Monticello, Mis- sissippi. I'm 80 years old; remember Ameri- can history at that time," explains Dr. Rod Paige, former U.S. Secretary of Education and 2014 SXSWedu keynote speaker. "Southern Mississippi was deeply segregated. There were two worlds, a white world and a black world." As a child in grade school, Paige found inspira- tion in his parent's vocations, which emphasized the importance of education, even in difficult circumstances: "My mother considered herself a librarian but given the scarcity of books in our schools you could hardly justify that, but she col- lected books the best she could. My father was an elementary school principal for the early part of my schooling. He worked on the side as a barber because our teachers were not making the same salaries as others." "We viewed ourselves as imprisoned in a soci- ety that didn't much care for us but our commu- nity looked up to my parents because teachers were really admired," Paige continues. "I had the view that although there were problems in the world that education was the key to all of them. That's what I took with me into college." After graduating from Jackson State Uni- versity, Paige's career in teaching started on the football field. He coached first at Utica Junior College starting in 1955, and then in 1962 was named head football coach at his alma mater. "When I got a job coaching a college team I began to see the challenges of teaching and what needed to be done in that field," he says. "There was no magical moment. It was over a pe- riod of time, building up and building up and be- ing captured by the need to help by what I viewed to be the pathway to freedom." Paige eventually earned his doctorate in physical education at Indiana University in 1969 and moved to Houston in 1971 to become head football coach, but only with the stipulation that he would also be a member of the faculty: "When I came to Texas Southern, my early chal- lenges stemmed from the fact that I wanted my athletes to go to class. I got caught in the trap of trying to change that culture, and I did change it." In 1984, Paige became Dean of TSU's School of Education and in 1989, was elected to the Houston school board. Becoming superinten- dent of the Houston Independent School Board in 1994, Dr. Paige implemented strategic pro- grams designed to increase educational stan- dards. One such program was 1998's Project Clear, designed to set uniform standards of what students should learn by grade and subject matter. Dr. Paige served as U.S. Sec- retary of Education from 2001– 2005 under President George W. Bush. Significantly, Dr. Paige was the first former superintendent to hold the nation's top education position. While Education Secretary, Paige is best remembered for implementing the No Child Left Behind Act. He also points to his management of the depart- ment's finances as a great ac- complishment. "I spent a lot of time on the financial integrity of the organization, and one of the proudest moments I have was the energy I spent on that," he says. "We had three clean audits from an outside audit firm; that had never happened before." After his service as Secretary of Education, Paige worked as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a prestigious think tank that informs public policy with nonpartisan re- search and information. These days, though he is primarily retired, he still appears at speaking engagements and is involved with The Center for Education Reform. Paige has also authored two books concerning education in the present day. The War Against Hope: How Teacher's Unions Hurt Children, Hinder Teachers, and Endanger Public Education was published in 2009. The following year, Dr. Paige co-wrote with his sister Dr. Elaine Witty, The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time . "I don't think we are close at all to closing the gap," he explains. "To use a phrase that's been used before: there were 'islands of excel- lence,' where there's some progress in closing the achievement gap. There is some success especially from elite charter school groups. But systemically it is not happening. Right now about two-thirds of our children nationally fit in the category of not being proficient in math and reading. There's been report after report by think tanks and education groups, but the progress towards closing the achievement gap has been slim. I believe that it is because it has not been made a priority." Contributed by Michael Bergeron Evan Smith is the Editor in Chief and CEO of The Texas Tribune , a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization based in Austin re- cently called "one of the nonprofit news sector's runaway success stories." Evan spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly , including eight years as Editor and a year as President and Edi- tor in Chief. He currently hosts Overheard with Evan Smith , airing on PBS stations nationally. A New York native, he has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College and a mas- ter's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Rod Paige with Evan Smith " I Rod Paige 4:30pm – 5:30pm Austin Convention Center Ballroom D WEDNESDAY KEYNOTE

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