Education Secretary Rod Paige intends to leave job [View All]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/317/wash/Education_Secretary_Rod_Paige_:.shtml

WASHINGTON (AP) Rod Paige, who rose from racial segregation to become the nation's first black education secretary, intends to leave his Cabinet position, an administration official told The Associated Press Friday.

''The secretary has been looking at leaving, and he's been in discussion with the White House about the right time to do so,'' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Paige has presided over the biggest federal shakeup to education in a generation, a law demanding that schools show improvement among all students, regardless of race or wealth. Paige, who grew up in segregated Mississippi, puts No Child Left Behind in the category of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that ended separating schools by race.

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Yet Paige has had rocky moments, with none more glaring than when he called the National Education Association a ''terrorist organization'' in a private meeting with governors.

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He compared critics of the administration's education overhaul to those who opposed school desegregation 50 years ago, saying both will fall on the wrong side of history.