Education secretary visits Holmes

When asked if he knew who Margaret Spellings is, 8-year-old Seth Rose had to think for a minute.

“I think she’s the president’s handler,” the Holmes Elementary third-grader said. “Or something like that.”

He’s not far off.

Spellings is the U.S. secretary of education, the handler of all things education for the George W. Bush White House.

She made a rare visit to Rose’s Spokane school on Thursday as part of a round of trips that included schools in New Jersey and Colorado. Holmes was the only Washington school the top education official stopped at.

“I love to travel around and visit schools all over the country – to see what’s working in education,” Spellings said.

Spellings’ visit was largely to push the progress of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which set the goal of having every child proficient in reading and math by 2014. The secretary helped design the law as a first-term Bush White House adviser.

Holmes Elementary was selected for a visit because of recent success on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, also known as the WASL. The standardized test is the state’s answer to the federal law.

Holmes, in the West Central neighborhood, has one of the poorest student populations in the city with more than 90 percent of students taking free or reduced-price lunch.

Last year test scores for fourth-graders improved by 30 percentage points in both reading and math, with 61 percent of students reaching standard in math and 76 percent reaching standard in reading.

“Here’s one that’s proving that No Child Left Behind does work, that the achievement gap is closing and that competition really begins in elementary school,” Spellings said.

Spellings spent time with staff and teachers before heading out into fifth- and third-grade classrooms, where she peered over shoulders, stuck her finger in a tank full of crawdads, squatted on the floor to help with math problems, and offered advice and words of wisdom to the students.

“She told me to never give up,” said Devon Crain, 8. “She told me to be strong.”

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Spokane, joined Spellings during her visit. Spellings planned to attend a political event with McMorris in Spokane later Thursday evening.

“I think her visit validates the incredibly hard work of our staff,” said Holmes Principal Steve Barnes. “I think we’re an example of a school that is doing it; the reform efforts are working here at Holmes.”