The Pennsylvania Senate on Nov. 9 unanimously confirmed Francis V. Barnes as the state’s new secretary of education. Mr. Barnes, 55, the first African-American to hold that office in Pennsylvania, was nominated last July by Gov. Edward G. Rendell to replace Vicki Phillips, who resigned to become superintendent of the Portland, Ore., schools.
A version of this article appeared in the November 17, 2004 edition of Education Week