Pete Sessions: “The process that we utilized worked well. Everybody got their votes and got their say. Matters went along fine.…”

“The process that we utilized worked well. Everybody got their votes and got their say. Matters went along fine. President Bush, as a Governor, committed to doing something about education in his State. He was hands on in that effort. As a result, he knew something about education when he ran for President. He determined that it would not be business as usual. He was convinced that children were being left behind, that they were finding themselves in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades unable to do basic education work, and tragedies were in store for them. He got to know some outstanding individuals in education in Texas. One was Dr. Rod Paige, the superintendent of the Houston school system, 207,000 students, one of the largest in America. Secretary Paige had made some real progress there. When he took over in 1995 in that school system, he found only 37 percent of the students were passing the basic Texas test. He had been the dean of a school of higher education. He determined that they could do better, and he insisted that they do better. In 5 years, he doubled that number--1 percentage point from doubling --to 73 percent passing. President Bush saw that. He appreciated that achievement. He was determined to try to bring that kind of progress throughout America. That is why he selected Dr. Rod Paige as his Secretary of Education. Dr. Paige eliminated social promotion. He improved testing.”