Observers Ponder Identity Of Next Education Secretary

By Joetta L. Sack

Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley has been the Clinton administration's top spokesman on education for more than seven years, longer than anyone else has served in that Cabinet post. But later this year, a new president-elect will have to choose Mr. Riley's successor, and gossip about prospective nominees is starting to circulate in Washington.

Whoever the next secretary is, he or she will face the challenge of working with a new Congress not only to promote the next president's education initiatives, but also to wrap up the unfinished business of the current administration.

The most likely major holdover on the agenda is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the centerpiece...