From U.S. Department of Education:
On January 20, 2001, the United States Senate confirmed Dr. Rod Paige as the 7th U.S. Secretary of Education and the first African-American to serve in this role.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University in Mississippi and earned both masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Indiana. In the years since, he's been a teacher, a coach, a school board member, a dean of a college school of education, and superintendent of the nation's 7th largest school district in Houston, Texas. Paige is the first school superintendent ever to serve as Secretary of Education. And his vast experience as a practitioner—from the blackboard to the board room—paid off during long hours of work to pass President Bush's number one domestic priority—the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Now he is leading the charge—in partnership with the states—to implement these historic reforms that give local districts the tools and the resources to help every child learn, regardless of the color of their skin or the accent of their speech. And the first year since No Child Left Behind became the law of the land has seen good progress.

The driving force behind Paige's work as Secretary is his shared belief with President Bush that education is a civil right, just like the right to vote or to be treated equally. Paige believes it is wrong to fight discrimination with discrimination. For that reason, he strongly supports the President's vision of affirmative access that promotes diversity in our nation's colleges and universities through race-neutral alternatives.