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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HE'S AGREEABLE TO BUSH

President-elect George W. Bush last Friday named Rod Paige as his choice for Secretary of Education, extending their six-year working relationship. As superintendent of the Houston independent school district since 1994, Paige started a voucher program for struggling students, instituted a policy of "zero tolerance" for weapons, ended most exemptions from state tests and stopped social promotion--all policies Bush promoted as Texas Governor and presidential candidate. Paige, 67, was named the nation's top urban educator in 1999.

COLLEGE NAMED FOR AN INSPIRING TEACHER

Columbia University's Teachers College is reaching out to schools and teachers who are looking for fresh ideas. The college this year will launch the Doris Dillon Center to spread the word about teaching programs and practices that have proved successful. The center will draw on Teachers College faculty to provide online and on-site help. The center is named for a nationally recognized reading teacher and 30-year veteran of public schools in San Jose, Calif., who has continued to educate and inspire children despite having lost her voice and mobility to Lou Gehrig's disease. Last June, TIME wrote about Dillon, who now has to use a feeding tube but still works full-time at two elementary school libraries.

K-12 KIDS TAKE A LOAD OFF THEIR BACKS

It has finally become fashionable to heed doctors' warnings that heavy book bags could injure students' backs. Elementary and middle school students in New York City, Los Angeles and other areas are now rolling their backpacks on lightweight frames. (Many high-schoolers, however, consider the carry-on-luggage look unhip.)

DISTANCE LEARNING TEACHING HOME SCHOOLERS ONLINE

Former Secretary of Education William Bennett wrote last year that "there is no good evidence that most uses of computers significantly improve learning." But because he now sees the technology as "the only way to reach everybody," Bennett has changed his mind. He announced last week that he will lead the nation's first for-profit online elementary and secondary school, called K12, that will begin enrolling students in grades K-2 next fall and will eventually have students in every grade. Enrollees can download course material and exchange e-mail messages with a teacher. Bennett, who refers to himself as K12's "principal," has recruited Harvard computer scientist (and Unabomber victim) David Gelernter as his chief technology adviser, and is currently hiring a teaching staff. Gelernter has also criticized online teaching as mostly "games." K12's demanding courses are aimed primarily at home schoolers and will be based on the curriculum described in Bennett's recent book, The Educated Child. Tuition for the program, located at K12.com will start at $1,000 a year.

--By Desa Philadelphia