Rod Paige, the first Black U.S. secretary of education and the architect behind No Child Left Behind, has died at 92. Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001, Paige helped shape the sweeping federal education law that imposed national testing standards and punitive measures for underperforming schools. While supporters claimed the law raised expectations, critics long argued it fueled overtesting, narrowed classroom learning, punished poor districts, and failed to significantly close racial and economic achievement gaps. Many of its most aggressive provisions were rolled back by Congress in 2015. Born to two teachers in segregated Mississippi, Paige rose from Navy service to football coach, college president, Houston schools superintendent, and ultimately a national education figure.
Rest in peace, Rod Paige.
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