Norton Pledges Support for Tribal Schools
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has vowed that school construction and academic achievement for Native Americans will be a top priority for her agency, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has vowed that school construction and academic achievement for Native Americans will be a top priority for her agency, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In a Feb. 22 speech to the American Indian tribal governments, she promised that the Bush administration would work with Congress to help repair and rebuild school facilities on reservations. She identified six schools in Arizona, New Mexico, and Washington state that would be replaced immediately, thanks to a $129 million appropriation approved by Congress last year.
In addition, Ms. Norton named reading and mathematics skills, better attendance and retention rates, and better knowledge of tribal languages and cultures as priorities in improving the education of American Indian students.
The BIA is responsible for 185 elementary and secondary schools in 23 states.
—Joetta L. Sack
House Education Panel Announces Staffing Changes
Rep. John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who recently became the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, has named Paula Nowakowski as the panel’s staff director.
Ms. Nowakowski was formerly the senior vice president for public affairs for the American Insurance Association. Before that, she was the communications director for the House Republican Conference when it was chaired by Mr. Boehner.
The committee’s previous staff director, Kevin Talley, is now an executive vice president of Sagamore and Associates, the lobbying division of the Baker & Daniels law firm.
In other changes, Becky Campoverde, who was the education committee’s communications director, has become the deputy staff director. David Schnittger, who previously served as Mr. Boehner’s press secretary, is the new communications director.
Finally, D’Arcy Philps, a member of the committee’s professional staff who deals with education, has announced his departure to join former committee staff member Vic Klatt at the Washington-based lobbying firm of Van Scoyoc Associates.
—Joetta L. Sack