We lead this week’s edition of Whiteboard Notes with reflections on the life of Rod Paige, former U.S. Secretary of Education, from Bill Hansen. Hansen is currently vice president of the Va. State Board of Education and president and CEO of Building Hope. He served as  U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education in the George W. Bush administration.

Rod Paige arrived from Texas in his signature cowboy boots. To his station as education secretary, Rod brought a discerning eye, a no-nonsense attitude, and a bold vision to transform American education as we knew it. 

He was fresh off a stint as superintendent of Houston ISD, where he launched reforms that led to what is now known as the “Houston Miracle.” He had little political experience, but possessed a reputation for strong educational leadership and the uncommon willingness to break the status quo. 

It might seem cliche in certain circles, but as education secretary, Rod’s “all about the kids” mantra pervaded every aspect of the Department’s work. He had lofty expectations and profound optimism for not just the children that we served, but the adults who took up the mantle of teaching them. Rod worked tirelessly to ensure that where children were born and the color of their skin had no bearing on the quality of the education they received, and that teachers had the resources and motivation to be excellent educators. 

Understandably, people remember Rod as one of the architects of No Child Left Behind, which he was a relentless advocate for. His ambition to rebuild Americans’ trust in the government, too, is reflected in the front pages of his storied career. 

The Education Department had never passed an audit—a failure Rod took personally. He pulled together a team and cracked open his coaching playbook; two years later, we earned the Department its first-ever independent clean audit.

But the lesser-known hallmark of his service came during 9/11. Rod was with President Bush visiting Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when the second plane hit the World Trade Center. President Bush was rushed to Air Force One, and Rod was stranded with all planes grounded. I remember calling him and offering to drive down to Florida to pick him up, but he declined. He told me in his usual, measured tone to “trust the process, Billy”—let the military do its job, and he would get home when he’d get home. (And for the rest of his term, he leaned into the irony of being left behind.)

Soon after, we travelled to New York City together. We visited Chancellor Harold Levy and worked with him to redeploy Stuyvesant High School—right at Ground Zero—as a base for firefighters, police, and recovery workers. Even amid the smoke and chaos, Rod led with the same calm clarity he brought to every situation: Keep your bearings. Serve others. Do the work in front of you. I carry these lessons in leadership with me more than two decades later.

After his time as secretary, the best decision Rod made was to marry Stephanie Nellons—an incredibly smart and fiercely driven woman who I’ve come to know well. Rod and Stephanie were partners not just in life, but in purpose, and their love and shared vision reinvigorated him. In the fourth quarter of his life, Stephanie helped Rod amplify his voice—cementing his legacy as a lifelong leader in education reform.

As we say in my faith, Rod fulfilled the measure of his creation. For his nation, Rod was resilient, bold, and unflinchingly honest. He was a man who didn’t shy away from tough conversations and who took challenges by the horns. For me, he was an extraordinary mentor and friend—one of the finest men of valor I’ve ever known. May he rest in peace; until we meet again.

At a National Governors Association (NGA) Chair’s Initiative convening today, Nick Moore—Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education (ED)—announced a new federal grant competition for states.

The competition, called the “Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge,” aims to align K-12 education with in-demand career fields to create “talent marketplaces.” This announcement builds on the Department’s priority “Meaningful Learning as well as Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness,” announced this September.  

ED plans to administer the challenge awards according to the timeline below:

More to come: Our team will be closely tracking and share updates as they are announced. Please reach out with any questions.

This afternoon, the Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee reached consensus on the rules for Workforce Pell. Negotiations—which typically take months—wrapped in just five days, realizing the Education Department’s ambitious goal.

According to early reports, the final proposal is closely aligned with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which established the Workforce Pell program. Negotiators debated the minutiae of the proposal, but agreed on the overall concept and plans for implementation.

What’s next: The Department will publish the proposed rules in the Federal Register. The rules will then be subject to a 30-day public comment period before being finalized. Due to congressional intent, these rules will go into effect on July 1, 2026.  

Stay tuned: Our team will share a detailed analysis of the proposed Workforce Pell rules next week. Got questions? Reach out to us.

The AHEAD Committee isn’t quite done, though. The committee will reconvene the week of January 5 to negotiate new rules around the “do no harm” accountability provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill that require degree programs to lead to earnings more than the average earnings of those without a degree. We’ll be watching closely to see how those new rules may intersect with—or even replace—Biden-era Gainful Employment rules that created earnings thresholds for for-profit institutions and non-degree programs.

On Thursday, W/A’s Head of K-12 Communications, Thomas Rodgers, moderated a webinar on a new national survey from GreatSchools examining how parents navigate an increasingly complex school choice landscape—and how the quality of school and district communications shapes trust, satisfaction, and enrollment decisions.

Drawing on insights from more than 1,100 K-12 parents, the survey and webinar explored where families actually look for school information, what they prioritize beyond academics, and why ease of finding clear, timely information is closely tied to parents’ likelihood of recommending a school.

During the webinar, panelists discussed practical steps districts can take now to improve clarity and consistency—both on their own websites and across the broader information ecosystem families rely on—underscoring that strong communication is a critical driver of trust and community engagement.

To help districts better provide the information parents care about most, GreatSchools is now offering a new “Claim Your District” feature that allows district leaders to highlight special programs and student supports and add context to student outcomes and other data—helping ensure that the full picture of what schools offer is easier for families to find.

Go deeper: Take a closer look at the findings in Education Week.

The House Education and Workforce Committee marked up four bills this week aimed at improving college cost transparency and access to postsecondary opportunity. In his opening remarks to Thursday’s session, committee chairman Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said, “Too many students face bureaucracy, hidden costs, and student debt for programs that don’t deliver a return on investment. These bills will take important steps to fix that.”

What’s next: The four bills now await consideration by the full U.S. House of Representatives. However, it is unlikely that the bills will receive a House floor vote until after Congress completes negotiations and finalizes the FY 2026 appropriations package.

Yesterday, the Education Department announced that it has prevented $1 billion in federal student aid from falling into the hands of fraudsters, including organized crime rings and those using AI bots to impersonate students.

After uncovering $90 million in fraudulently-dispersed federal student aid dollars earlier this year, the Department implemented “enhanced fraud controls” such as mandatory identity verification for some first-time applicants. The Department also shared plans to build a dedicated fraud detection team to investigate scams and suspicious activity in its official release. [The Washington Examiner; Higher Ed Dive]

On Tuesday, the Trump administration reached a settlement with the state of Missouri to officially terminate the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. The SAVE plan, enacted under the Biden-Harris administration, offered borrowers more affordable monthly student loan payments and a pathway to student loan forgiveness. 

Under the proposed settlement agreement, now awaiting court approval, the Education Department would not enroll new borrowers in the SAVE plan, deny any pending SAVE applications, and move all borrowers still enrolled in SAVE into other active income-driven repayment plans. The settlement is expected to impact 8 million borrowers, who have been in interest-free forbearance for over a year due to pending litigation.

Meanwhile, the Education Department is preparing to launch the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). Outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, RAP is intended to consolidate all existing income-driven repayment options into a single, streamlined plan. [Forbes, subscription model]

Also on Tuesday, the Education Department added an “earnings indicator” to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This new feature will warn first-time undergraduates if they indicate interest in an institution that the Department has identified as “lower earnings,” where average graduate earnings are below the average earnings of an adult with a high school diploma.

About 23% of the nearly 5,900 institutions in the Department College Scorecard site were flagged as “lower earnings.” Most of these institutions are for-profits and cosmetology schools. The list also included some community colleges and HBCUs. 

“Not only will this new FAFSA feature make public earnings data more accessible, but it will empower prospective students to make data-driven decisions before they are saddled with debt,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in ED’s official release. [Bloomberg, subscription model]

Check out W/A Jobs, which features 3,295 career opportunities from 312 organizations across the education industry. A few roles that caught our eye over the past week: