Making a difference
His GOP colleagues often refer to him as the House’s education policy expert. Now, Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pa., has made Congressional Quarterly‘s list of “12 Who Made a Difference” in the 105th Congress.
The magazine recognized Mr. Goodling, who chairs the Education and the Workforce Committee, for his skillful maneuvering of several major bills--including the reauthorizations of the Higher Education Act and the Head Start and child-nutrition programs--through the legislative thicket.
In the 105th Congress, the former school administrator often sidestepped contentious issues without angering conservatives on his committee and guided less controversial versions of bills to the House floor for passage.
In addition to Mr. Goodling, the magazine’s list included other members of Congress, former White House Chief of Staff Erskine B. Bowles, and Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr. Mr. Goodling, 71, plans to retire after the upcoming 106th Congress.
Performance-based chief
Greg Woods has taken the reins of the recently restructured student-financial-aid office, the Department of Education announced last week.
Mr. Woods, who served on Vice President Al Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government task force, became the chief operating officer of the federal government’s first “performance-based organization,” or pbo, on Nov. 30. In his newly created position, he will oversee the Education Department’s student-loans and -grants division, which gave out $46 billion in aid this year. The office has had problems in past years with its applications process and payment collections.
Mr. Woods worked in the private sector for 20 years before joining Mr. Gore’s office. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley called the appointment “a new era in government management.”
As a PBO, the financial-aid division will have greater leeway than other offices in hiring nongovernment executives and assigning employees specific performance goals. It also is charged with streamlining day-to-day operations.
--Joetta L. Sack federal@epe.Org
