Education Secretary Paige Is Superintendent of Year

Education Secretary Rod Paige, former head of the Houston Independent School District, was named 2001 superintendent of the year Friday.

The award was the latest of several national honors for Paige, the first black U.S. education secretary.

He was given the National Alliance of Black School Educators’ top superintendent award in November. Two years ago, he was honored by fellow urban school chiefs. He has received the Harold McGraw Prize, a national award given by education publisher McGraw-Hill, and he was the 2000 Texas superintendent of the year.

The selection of the new Cabinet member was a coincidence, said the American Assn. of School Administrators, which co-sponsors the 14-year-old prize with the ServiceMaster Co.

Finalists, including David F. Clune of Connecticut, Neil G. Pedersen of North Carolina and Raymond Yeagley of New Hampshire, were chosen last year. The winner was picked in January, before Paige became Education secretary but after he was named as President Bush’s choice for the post.

Friday’s announcement came at the association’s annual conference in Orlando, Fla.

“I am humbled to be selected from among so many dedicated and talented superintendents, and share the distinction with the administrators, teachers and school board who have devoted themselves to the success of the Houston Independent School District and its students,” Paige said in a statement.

Paige spent seven years as Houston superintendent--about five years longer than the average tenure of an urban schools leader. He was credited with increasing test scores, curbing student violence and saving the district money by privatizing services.

Critics have said that Houston students are coached on tests and that troubled students have been shuttled to non-district campuses in a voucher experiment.