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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 19, 1996

PRESIDENT NAMES GERALD N. TIROZZI ASSISTANT SECRETARY

         FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION AT 
               THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

     President Clinton has appointed Gerald N. Tirozzi

to be the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the Department of Education. Mr. Tirozzi will serve as a recess appointee. Mr. Tirozzi was nominated on December 29, 1995 and his nomination is pending before the Senate.

Gerald N. Tirozzi of Connecticut is a nationally recognized leader in the education reform movement. Currently a tenured professor at the University of Connecticut, he served as Connecticut's Commissioner of Education during the terms of Governors Bill O'Neill and Lowell Weicker. During his eight years as Commissioner, Mr. Tirozzi initiated major teaching reforms which were considered a model for the nation and were at the core of an unprecedented $300 million education improvement fund from the General Assembly in 1986. Prior to his service as Commissioner of Education, he began his career as a classroom science teacher in 1959. His experience ranges from teacher and principal, to superintendent of New Haven Schools. From 1991 to 1993, he served as president of Wheelock College, a liberal arts college near Boston that has a national reputation in early childhood education. He is an honorary lifetime member of the PTA and has served on the boards of Jobs for the Future, the Education Commission of the States, the George Lucas Foundation, the Educational Testing Service and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Mr. Tirozzi was awarded the Connecticut NAACP Equal Opportunity Award. He received his B.S. in Elementary Education, his M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Southern Connecticut State College, and his Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Higher Education from Michigan State University.

The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education manages 240 staff members working in programs that provide financial assistance, leadership and technical assistance to improve education in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. The Assistant Secretary serves as the Secretary's representative to superintendents, state school officers, teachers, parents and students across the nation. With this recess appointment, the office will now have the leadership it needs to fulfill its responsibilities and mission.

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