STATEMENT BY SECRETARY PAIGE

   The following is a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige concerning his resignation:

“I did not come to Washington as a career move.  I came to help President Bush launch No Child Left Behind and Reading First and to help establish a culture of accountability in American education.

“No Child Left Behind is indelibly launched.  A culture of accountability is gripping the American educational landscape.  The next report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will show that reading scores of our young people have catapulted to a record high because of Reading First.

“At the end of the President’s first term, I will have served longer than any Republican United States Secretary of Education.  At that time, my work here will be accomplished.”

Click Here for Secretary Paige's Resignation Letter to President Bush.