So You Want to Be Education Secretary . . .

Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda

The Teacher

It is important to move away from failed teaching methodologies and experiment with new approaches that are culturally relevant, holistic and brain-based. These new approaches must recognize cultural context, adjust to class demographics and incorporate the use of technology. Curricula must be adjusted to better engage students with various backgrounds and epistemological styles. Schools' parents and teachers must be encouraged to more effectively collaborate in setting educational goals and provide positive learning environments both at home and in the classroom. Finally, high expectations must be set for our nation's children.

-- Kimberly Worthy, Howard University Middle School

of Mathematics and Science, the District

The School Superintendent

Focus the department and its available funds on meeting the federal government's obligations for funding . . . special education. I also hope that the new administration will focus on the needs of children who live in rural and urban poverty. . . . The role of the federal government in public education is limited, and we cannot afford to continue to waste money and energies on the Department of Education's trying to police every public school system in America.

-- Edgar B. Hatrick III, superintendent, Loudoun County