People in the news

Margot M. Rogers

Former Chief of Staff to Education Secretary Arne Duncan (January 2009-Summer 2010)

(Department of Ed)

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Assistant to the director of education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2008); Senior program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2004 to 2008); Consultant (2000 to 2004); Attorney at the Center for Law and Education (1994 to 2000)
Birthday: May 3, 1966
Hometown: Farmville, Va.

Alma Mater: Emory University, B.A. (history), 1988; University of Toronto, attended, 1988-89; University of Virginia, J.D./M.A. (American history), 1992
Spouse: Hampton Newsome
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Path to Power

Rogers grew up in Farmville, Va., where her father was a religion professor at Hampden-Sydney College and her mother was a local political reporter active in local government. Farmville is in Prince Edwards County in central Virginia. It is home to Barbara Johns, who walked out of her school in 1951 to protest the unequal conditions at her school compared to the all-white local school. The county was also home to Davis v. Country School Board of Prince Edward County, which was one of five cases that became the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, which desegregated schools in 1954. Prince Edwards County took large steps to avoid desegregating its schools, closing the doors of every public school in 1959 after the Brown v. Board ruling; the schools were not reopened until 1964.

Rogers didn't enter the school system until 1975, but the effects of the closed schools were still apparent ten years later. She and her sister were the only white kids on the public school bus because almost all of the county's white students went to private, segregated schools. Plus, "the community took education very seriously because an entire group of African American students were denied an education," Rogers said.

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Largely because of her education experience, Rogers decided early in life that she wanted to be a lawyer who worked on civil-rights issues. "I wanted to be Atticus Finch," she said, referring to the lead character in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." She earned a B.A. in history from Emory in 1988 and studied history as a Rotary International Scholar at the University of Toronto for two years before going to law school at the University of Virginia, where she earned both a J.D. and an M.A. in American history.

By the time Rogers graduated from Virginia in 1992, most of the desegregation fights had already been fought. "In law school, I decided I wanted to focus on access to quality schools," Rogers said. Rogers went to work for the American Association of University Women (now AAUW), where she was in charge of the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award, given out to teachers, researchers or legislators for contributions in education equality.

In 1994, Rogers started at the Center for Law and Education, a legal services fund. When lawyers around the country had a question about federal education laws or education laws in their district, they could call CLE for advice. Rogers also focused on community outreach, working with parents and school officials on ways to use Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which "ensure[s] that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education," and similar state statutes to improve the quality of education.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

In 2000, Rogers took some time off and worked as a consultant for a handful of education organizations such as the New American School, the Community for Learning and the Gates Foundation, where she nabbed a full-time job in 2004.

Rogers started as a senior program officer, where she managed the Chicago portfolio, and eventually became assistant to the director of education. She advised the investment committees on grants for Chicago, including a $21 million grant in 2006 to the Chicago Public School (CPS) system to revamp its curriculum to give more support to individual teachers under then-city school head Arne Duncan. "We really see Arne as one of a few leaders in the country who is really thoughtful and groundbreaking in making sure students are prepared for college, work and life," Rogers said.

When Duncan left CPS to become Barack Obama's Education secretary, he asked Rogers to be his chief of staff. She joined the administration on January 21, 2009, the same day Duncan was confirmed.

After a year and a half on the job, Rogers decided to step down in order to spend mre time with her family.

The Issues

Rogers says two-thirds of her job is supporting the Education staff and making sure all the trains are running on time. "If I'm behind the scenes helping everyone do their jobs well, I'm doing my job," she says.

The other one-third of her job is contributing to all policy meetings involving Duncan. Though her background is in K-12 education, Rogers participates in all the department's top priorities, which include increased access to early childhood education and affordability of post-secondary education, as well as programs to improve primary and secondary education.

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The Network

Most notably, Rogers worked closely with Education Secretary Arne Duncan when he was CEO of Chicago Public Schools and she controlled the Chicago portfolio at the Gates Foundation, which gave grants to CPS. In the same context, Rogers met Duncan consultant Peter Cunningham, who is now Education Department assistant secretary of the Office of Communications and Outreach. Rogers also worked with Education Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Office of Innovation and Improvement Jim Shelton at the Gates Foundation, and she crossed paths with Education Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights Russlynn Ali when Ali was working for Ed Trust. "It's hard to live in D.C. for 17 years and work in education and not know [a lot of the education community]," Rogers said.

Campaign Contributions

Rogers donated $250 to Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, the only money she has donated to political campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

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