Michael L. Williams, deputy assistant secretary for law enforcement in the Treasury Department, is expected to be nominated by the White House to fill the post of assistant secretary for civil rights in the Education Department, sources in the ed and the civil-rights community say.
Mr. Williams moved to the Treasury last year after six years in the Justice Department, where he prosecuted bias-related crimes as a trial lawyer in the civil-rights division.
He also served a brief stint as special assistant to Attorney General Dick Thornburgh.
One source said the nomination will be a “package deal” that will see Richard Komer step down as legal counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to become the o.c.r.'s deputy assistant secretary for policy.
Both positions have been occupied for more than a year by temporary appointees; the assistant-secretary slot is the last vacancy among ed posts requiring Senate approval.
Chapter 1 is 25 years old this year, and an organization called the Center for the Study of Reading Program Administration is hoping to cash in on educators’ sentiments for the compensatory-education program.
The center is touting a “beautiful, full-color poster honoring the contribution of Chapter 1 to American education"--for only $9.95.
“School districts throughout the nation are using this poster in their schools and throughout the community to show their pride in their Chapter 1 program and to make the community aware of this valuable program,” a mailing from the center says.
One of 1990’s hottest Senate races features two Iowans with education ties, and education has already become an issue.
The campaign of Republican Representative Tom Tauke, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, recently attacked Democratic Senator Tom Harkin for proposing a tax increase to pay for education spending.
Mr. Tauke cited a 1989 interview in which Mr. Harkin reportedly proposed an “education trust fund,” financed with some type of payroll-tax surcharge.
Mr. Harkin, who is chairman of both the subcommittee on disability policy and the appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, has called for major increases in the education budget.
But he told the Des Moines Register that he is not now calling for a new tax.--w.s. & j.m.
