MIAMI, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The nation's teachers' unions are viewing President Bush's appointment of domestic-policy adviser Margaret Spellings to replace Rod Paige as secretary of the Department of Education with an optimistic, if wary, eye.
Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, at 2.7 million members the nation's largest teachers' union, said he hoped the improvement would help relations with the administration, which were strained under Paige.
"This is a great opportunity for the administration to change the tone of its discourse with the education community, particularly the 2.7 million members of the National Education Association who are in schools all over this nation," Weaver said.
"We look forward to finding common ground with Ms. Spellings in her new role."
His welcome came with a caution.
"The NEA is hopeful that President Bush's nominee for Education secretary understands the vital role teachers play in improving student achievement and will work with the National Education Association to make public schools great for every child," Weaver said.
Spellings is known as a low-key confidante of the president. A White House political adviser once called her the "most influential woman in Washington you never heard of."
Paige became very well known during his four years as education secretary, engaging in frequent sparring with the NEA.
The union called upon the president to fire Paige this year after Paige made controversial remarks at a governors' meeting at the White House.
Paige called the group a "terrorist organization," but later recanted, saying it was a poor choice of words.
But he also said in a statement issued after he made his remarks, he did consider the National Education Association "obstructionist."
The NEA was not accepting any apologies.
"I ask President Bush to express his regret to the nation's educators and demand that Secretary Paige step down," Weaver said at the time.
"Our members say that once again this national leader has insulted them, this time beyond repair with words filled with hatred -- and merely because they raised legitimate concerns about the president's so-called No Child Left Behind law," Weaver said then.
The rift has since been patched up to a degree, but tension remains. There is clearly hope Spellings will improve matters.
The other major teachers' union, the American Federation of Teachers, praised the appointment but emphasized its concern for its members.
"In our dealings with her (Spellings), she has been accessible, open and willing to listen," said Edward J. McElroy, AFT president.
"Certainly, one challenge in meeting our shared goal of better education for all will be correcting the fundamental problems of the No Child Left Behind Act," McElroy said. "But the nation faces a host of other challenges that are outside the scope of the law, including better working conditions and compensation to attract and keep good teachers, better preparation for those entering the profession and greater access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., another architect of the No Child Left Behind education-reform act of 2001, also said he was pleased.
"Margaret Spellings is a capable, principled leader who has the ear of the president and has earned strong bipartisan respect in Congress. I look forward to working with her to strengthen our public schools," Kennedy said in a statement.
With that kind of endorsement, Spellings is expected to have little trouble with her confirmation by the Senate. Her next chore will be expanding NCLB to the nation's high schools.
The education-reform act now requires schools to test math and English skills in the third through eighth grades. Public schools are mandated to show continuous improvement until all of their students are deemed proficient.
Spellings had trouble keeping her emotions in check when President Bush announced her nomination Wednesday at the White House with her husband and two of their four children in attendance.
"I am a product of our public schools. I believe in America's schools, what they mean to each child, to each future president or future domestic-policy adviser, and to the strength of our great country," she said.
"If confirmed by the Senate I commit to work alongside America's educators and my new colleagues at the department of education to make our schools the finest in the world," Spellings said.
Spellings and Paige, both with roots in Houston, were among the chief architects of No Child Left Behind.
"She believes every child can learn and every school can succeed. And she knows the stakes are too high to tolerate failure," Bush said. "She believes in high standards and improving the resources necessary to meet those standards.
"In Margaret Spellings, children, teachers and parents will have a principled, determined ally in my Cabinet. She has my complete trust and will be an outstanding secretary of Eucation," Bush said.
Before her four years in the White House handling domestic issues including education, labor and health, Spellings spent six years as a senior adviser to Bush when he was governor of Texas.
Her main responsibility was developing education policy.
Before her stint in the governor's office, she was political director in Bush's 1994 campaign for governor.
She also worked as associate executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards and worked for Texas Gov. William P. Clements and for members of the Texas House of Representatives.
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