Education pick comes from inside Bush circle

She recalls her first meeting with Spellings, then Margaret LaMontagne, early in Bush's second term as governor. "Her first question to me was: 'Other than teachers' rights and money, because we know your position on that, if you could pass a bill that would make a difference for children, what would it be?' "

Ms. Fallon told her the need was to "stop moving them up to higher levels when they can't read." Spellings response: "What would you do?"

By the end of this - and countless other discussions - the Bush team in Texas had settled on a new social promotion policy to test children at critical points (grades 3, 5, and 8), evaluate their progress, and hold children back a grade, if needed. Other new legislation included the Safe Schools Act, which gave teachers the right to remove disruptive students from class, and a focus on early reading. "They liked common-sense ideas and reading programs that had some research base, rather than just giving the principal a new TV," says Fallon.

Focused and absolutely no-nonsense, Spellings was the gatekeeper for Governor Bush on education initiatives. As the governor's senior education adviser for six years, she helped develop the Texas Reading Initiative, the Student Success Initiative to end social promotion, and the Texas assessment and accountability system that was the model for the No Child Left Behind Act.

Spellings will probably win easy confirmation to her new post. She won an early vote of confidence from Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts, who worked closely with the White House in an unusual collaboration on the No Child Left Behind Act.

On Tuesday, he described Spellings as "a capable, principled leader who has the ear of the president and has earned strong bipartisan respect in Congress."

In addition to presiding over adjustments to NCLB, the new Education secretary will be involved in extending its principles to the high school level, as well as working on new initiatives on early education. "The president seems to be taking some key departments and staffing them with very loyal people from his staff rather than independent-minded outsiders who might challenge his ideas or put some original ideas on the table," says Chester Finn, a former Education Department appointee and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

"NCLB was a terrific first draft of an important reform law, but it needs some revising," he adds. "Getting that done right without eviscerating it is a challenge for the next term, as well as extending it to high school. I'm sure Spellings will be good at that."

A product of the public schools, Spellings would be the second woman to head the Education Department. Some think that in itself is significant.

"One thing that went through my head was - oh good, a woman," says Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform. "We've had some great leadershp at the Education Department over the years. But I think a strong woman leader who understands the concerns of parents as well as ... working directly with the president and his most senior team gives education reformers an inside track to White House."

• Staff writer Amanda Paulson contributed to this report.

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