Curious Timing

On Friday (December 16) the U.S. Department of Education issued a press release announcing the creation of the Center for Rural Education and naming William L. Smith as its director. Some of you will remember that Dr. Smith was U.S. Commissioner of Education before the creation of the Department of Education.

What’s curious about the timing is that Dr. Smith had already been introduced as the director of the center, most notably at the National Rural Education Association Convention in November. Why did the Department issue a press release now?

My friends who believe in a vast urban/suburban conspiracy against rural schools may see the timing as an indication of the low priority that rural schools receive at the department. Those friends are thinking, “I guess it was a slow news day and they didn’t have anything else to report.”

Those who are politically inclined, or at least watch The West Wing, may see the timing as part of “take out the trash day.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, Friday is “take out the trash day.” Since fewer people read the paper or watch the news on Saturday, Friday is the day the administration releases information they would rather people didn’t see or hear.

Another explanation is that it was announced at a meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers by Beto Gonzalez, the acting assistant secretary for the Education Department's Office of Vocational and Adult Education. That an assistant secretary level official announced it to a meeting of chief state school officers trumps earlier announcements to groups that are perceived to have lower status.

The real news in the press release is the naming of an assistant secretary to head the Rural Education Task Force. In a previous post, Reforming the Rural Education Task Force, I called for naming a high-ranking Department of Education official to head the task force. Naming Beto Gonzalez to lead the group is a step in the right direction.

The creation of the Center for Rural Education and the selection of Dr. Smith to head it are indeed good news for rural children. Dr. Smith lead a department team that actively participated in the National Rural Education Convention in Tucson. I was greatly encouraged by what I saw of that group.

I am a little concerned that the new Rural Center is housed in the Office of Vocational and Adult Education because it suggests that rural school improvement should focus on vocational and adult education. That seems like a rather minor issue at this point.