House Education and Labor Committee

For Gomez, that means working with a lot of her former colleagues. Between 2006 and 2009, she worked for Miller while he was chair of the House Education and Labor panel. During that time, "she helped Congress enact some of the most significant changes to higher education policy in history, including increasing $20 billion in college aid for students and families, cleaning up shady practices in the student loan industry, and modernizing our higher education program," Miller said.

No Child Left Behind

Gomez was at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2001, when No Child Left Behind was passed by Congress. AFT was supportive of the legislation and the AFT Web site says "The AFT has long championed the principles underlying the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) high standards for all children, with appropriate tests to measure whether the standards are being met; disaggregation of student achievement data; "highly qualified" teachers and well-trained paraprofessionals in every classroom; and extra support for students and schools performing below proficient levels." But the union was not supportive of some of the specifics of the bill, such as the adequate yearly progress formula and teacher requirements. "The AFT recognizes that the principles and goals of the law cannot be met without changes in the law, proper implementation and the necessary funding," the union's Web site now says.

Higher Education

Gomez was primarily responsible for higher education policy while at the AFT. The teachers union was not supportive of President George W. Bush's plan to create a NCLB-esque program to attach federal funding to performance at a higher-education level. The AFT called for more Pell grant funding instead of report cards for college teachers. In 2008, when she worked for Miller, Gomez played a key role in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which decreased interest rates for student loans among other things.

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