Former D.C. State Superindent Heads To Bush Institute

After nine years in D.C., Kerri Briggs--formerly an assistant secretary of education in the Bush administration and most recently D.C.'s state superintendent of education--has returned to her home state of Texas. She's been named director of education reform for the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas.

Briggs says she'll look at what she calls the "entire cycle of being a school principal," including how they are selected, placed and evaluated. So far she says a lot of the national school reform conversation has focused on good teachers.

"That's absolutely imperative. But I think in terms of helping teachers do their jobs well, it's also really important to have strong principals. I look at these as sort of parallel and working in conjunction with each other--not as cross purposes," she says.

Briggs has been credited with helping to win a federal Race to the Top grant for D.C.'s public schools. When asked whether she thinks her new appointment would be a little more low-key after the aggressive reform effort underway in D.C., she laughed.

"It's hard to imagine it wouldn't be. I think it's just going to be different," Briggs says.