Following are profiles of eight freshman members of the 109th Congress who have backgrounds or particular interest in public education.
Sen. Jim DeMint
Republican of South Carolina
Age: 53
Background: Three-term House member; market-research-company owner
Sen. Jim DeMint has made the jump from the House to the Senate, but as a new member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, he finds himself in familiar territory. He鈥檒l continue some of the work he did as a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
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A booster of charter schools and private school vouchers, Mr. DeMint said he wants to focus on how to refine and tailor the ways in which the nation teaches its students.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 continue to have a one-size-fits-all approach,鈥� he said in an interview.
Though he praised the No Child Left Behind Act, Mr. DeMint said the federal government needs to provide more flexibility to states and districts in how they use their federal money.
He鈥檒l also continue to push for tax credits for corporations and individuals that contribute to schools or create scholarships. In 2004 in the House, Mr. DeMint introduced tax-relief legislation that would have helped reimburse teachers for out-of-pocket education expenses. An alternate version of a teacher tax credit plan was signed into law by President Bush last year as part of a tax-relief package passed by Congress.
Mr. DeMint鈥檚 bill also sought to make individuals and corporations eligible for a similar tax credit if they donated money to a K-12 school, up to $500 for one person or up to $100,000 for a business. Mr. DeMint said he plans to introduce a similar bill in the Senate.
Education played a significant role in his campaign to win the Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, a Democrat. Mr. DeMint defeated Democratic state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. The tough campaign was filled with education references, including one in which Mr. DeMint said he opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to work as public school teachers. Though he later apologized, he added that single pregnant women shouldn鈥檛 be teachers either.
Sen. Johnny Isakson
Republican of Georgia
Age: 60
Background: Three-term House member; Georgia state board of education chairman
Sen. Johnny Isakson is another House education committee member who made the transition to the Senate, where he is now a member of that chamber鈥檚 education panel.
A former chairman of the Georgia state board of education, the moderate Mr. Isakson said he was pleased to hear Margaret Spellings at her Jan. 6 confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of education discuss making the No Child Left Behind Act 鈥渨orkable and sensible.鈥�
鈥淪he said the two words every teacher and principal wants to hear,鈥� he said in an interview. In the House, Mr. Isakson served as a negotiator for the No Child Left Behind Act and was on the Web-Based Education Commission, which studied school technology issues. The commission issued a 2000 report recommending changes to encourage the use of online courses. He also took a lead role in an unsuccessful Republican school construction proposal that would have helped modernize school buildings.
Mr. Isakson said he wants to continue to focus on distance learning and Web-based education. He also said he wants to make sure the education committee works to find ways to help states develop highly qualified teachers and get such candidates through the pipeline quickly to ease shortages.
He also said he鈥檇 be working to stay on track with funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 鈥淲e鈥檙e halfway there on full funding of the federal mandate,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking good steps every year.鈥�
Observers say they expect Mr. Isakson to have a significant impact in the Senate on education, in part because of his background on the state school board and on the House education committee. 鈥淚鈥檓 very confident that on education issues he will be a very key player in the Senate,鈥� said Vic Klatt, the former House education aide.
Sen. Barack Obama
Democrat of Illinois
Age: 43
Background: State senator; civil rights lawyer
A year ago, Sen. Barack Obama was a virtual unknown in national politics. Now this freshman from Illinois is a hot item in the Democratic Party, attracting loads of media attention and even early speculation that he could eventually run for president.
Mr. Obama, the only African-American in the Senate, emphasized in his campaign his support for expanding federal education aid from kindergarten through college, and he calls himself a champion of charter schools. He proposed creating a national network of teaching academies to add 25,000 new teachers to high-need urban and rural schools.
As a state senator, Mr. Obama sponsored several education bills, including measures to help train new teachers in high-need schools and provide bonuses to reward high-quality teachers in such schools.
During his widely praised keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston last year, he made several nods to education, about both the benefits for his family and his goals for the nation.
鈥淚f there is a child on the South Side of Chicago who can鈥檛 read, that matters to me, even if it鈥檚 not my child,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is that fundamental belief鈥擨 am my brother鈥檚 keeper; I am my sister鈥檚 keeper鈥攖hat makes this country work.鈥�
At the same time, Mr. Obama made clear that he believes government isn鈥檛 the sole answer.
鈥淕o into any inner-city neighborhood,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd folks will tell you that government alone can鈥檛 teach our kids to learn.鈥�
Sen. Ken Salazar
Democrat of Colorado
Age: 49
Background: Colorado attorney general; secretary of state department of natural resources
Sen. Ken Salazar is expected to bring a dose of political centrism to Washington. This stance is reflected in his education policy by the Democrat鈥檚 backing for a pilot private-school-voucher program that passed in Colorado but has been blocked by state courts from taking effect. However he didn鈥檛 emphasize school choice in his campaign last fall.
Like many Democrats, he stressed spending more for education at all levels; he highlighted issues such as college affordability, smaller class sizes, and repair of school buildings. He argued that the No Child Left Behind Act needs to be 鈥渇ully funded鈥� and 鈥渇ixed,鈥� including the use of multiple measures to gauge student achievement under the law.
鈥淲hile the purposes are worthy, the law has proven to be inflexible and unnecessarily punitive and must be fixed,鈥� he said in a campaign statement. 鈥淭he requirements of No Child Left Behind are important but are also costly. Washington has not kept up its end of the bargain, and has shortchanged schools by billions of dollars.鈥�
Editorials from Colorado鈥檚 two largest newspapers, The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, both emphasized Mr. Salazar鈥檚 moderate political leanings and ability to work across the partisan divide.
鈥淸M]ore often than not, we believe, Salazar鈥檚 moderate instincts will lead him to centrist positions,鈥� the News editorialized last fall in endorsing him over Republican beer-company executive Pete Coors. In the Democratic primary, Mr. Salazar defeated Mike Miles, a school administrator.
Sen. Dan Boren
Democrat of Oklahoma
Age: 31
Background: State House member
Rep. Dan Boren comes from an Oklahoma political dynasty. His father, David L. Boren, is a former Oklahoma governor and U.S. senator. His grandfather was a congressman from the state.
Now Mr. Boren is following those footsteps into a national role. He had served in the Oklahoma House since 2003, and even as a freshman lawmaker garnered a position as Democratic caucus chairman. While in the state House, Mr. Boren helped pass a teacher pay raise plan and a proposal to pay for teachers鈥� health care benefits.
During his 2004 congressional race, the National Education Association contributed $10,000 to his campaign, and he was endorsed by Oklahoma鈥檚 state schools superintendent. Mr. Boren said during the campaign that he agreed with most of the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, but he had serious concerns about its implementation.
鈥淣o Child Left Behind should not just be a slogan used by the federal government to justify taking away local control,鈥� he told the Muskogee Phoenix and Times-Democrat in May. Mr. Boren also opposes private school vouchers, calling them 鈥渞isky schemes.鈥�
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Republican of North Carolina
Age: 61
Background: State senator; community college president
Rep. Virginia Foxx brings a wealth of education experience to her new job on Capitol Hill, from a decade serving on a local school board in North Carolina to leading a community college there.
The freshman lawmaker said the key lesson from her tenure on the Watauga County board of education was a need to protect local control of schools.
鈥淭he main thing I took away from that experience is that we cannot run the schools of this nation from Washington, and that what we need to do is give as much flexibility to local school boards as we possibly can,鈥� she said in an interview.
Ms. Foxx said that during a 鈥渓istening tour鈥� in her congressional district this month, she heard a lot of complaints from educators about the No Child Left Behind Act, which critics say brings a heavy-handed federal role to schools and amounts to an unfunded federal mandate. She said she鈥檚 open to seeking changes in the law, but hasn鈥檛 made up her mind yet.
鈥淲hat I have said to folks is, give me specifics,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou show me exactly where the unfunded mandates are. 鈥� It can鈥檛 be, 鈥榃e just can鈥檛 meet those standards.鈥� It鈥檚 got to have backup to it. I鈥檓 very big on accountability.鈥�
Ms. Foxx worked as an instructor and administrator at the community college and university level before serving as the president of Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, N.C., from 1987 to 1994. In 1994, she was elected to the first of five terms in the state Senate.
She is expected to join the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
Rep. Gwen Moore
Democrat of Wisconsin
Age: 53
Background: State senator; state assemblywoman
Rep. Gwen Moore may not be an educator, but as both the daughter of a teacher and now the mother of one, she鈥檚 learned a lot about schools.
With the backing of Wisconsin鈥檚 two state teachers鈥� unions, she鈥檒l represent the Milwaukee area in the House, where she has pledged to seek repeal of the No Child Left Behind Act. The federal law has come under heavy fire from teachers鈥� unions.
鈥淭he No Child Left Behind Act has turned out to be more hype than help,鈥� Ms. Moore鈥檚 campaign Web site declared. 鈥淭he law created unfair new mandates that overburden our schools and the Bush administration has failed to adequately fund the programs under the act.鈥�
Ms. Moore is the first African-American to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the state legislature, where Ms. Moore served for 15 years before entering Congress, she supported state efforts to reduce class sizes for students in low-income elementary schools, fought proposed cuts to early-childhood programs, and sought to expand state support to make college more affordable for minority students.
Stan Johnson, the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said Ms. Moore has long been an advocate for public schools.
鈥淪he understands the importance of public education, why we need to strengthen it and fund it,鈥� said Mr. Johnson, whose union is an affiliate of the National Education Association. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what galvanized our members to support her.鈥�
Rep. John R. 鈥淩andy鈥� Kuhl Jr.
Republican of New York
Age: 61
Background: Member of the state Senate and Assembly; lawyer
Rep. John R. 鈥淩andy鈥� Kuhl Jr. sparked an unusual blend of support in his campaign for a seat in Congress, as his campaign won backing from the National Rifle Association, leading business groups, and a statewide teachers鈥� union.
A moderate Republican who for several years chaired the New York state Senate鈥檚 education committee, Mr. Kuhl helped develop a comprehensive teacher-recruitment and -retention strategy for New York, as well as a plan for school safety and violence prevention in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. In all, he served in the Assembly鈥攖he legislature鈥檚 lower house鈥攁nd the state Senate for about 25 years.
In explaining its support for the GOP lawmaker, the New York State United Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers with roughly half a million members, cited Mr. Kuhl鈥檚 support for public schools and universities in the legislature and his moderate political leanings.
David C. Smith, the superintendent of the 1,900-student Hornell, N.Y., city school district, was inspired to write to a local newspaper just days before Election Day to explain his decision to support Mr. Kuhl.
鈥淎s Randy will tell you, I have taken him to task over the years on issues such as education reform, state aid to schools, and standardized testing,鈥� Mr. Smith wrote in his letter to the Star-Gazette newspaper of Elmira, N.Y. 鈥淏ut in all instances, I have found Randy to be knowledgeable, aware of the specific needs of the students and communities in this area, and receptive to input.鈥�
