U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that Deborah A. Price has been named deputy under secretary in charge of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Price will oversee the Department's activities related to safe schools, crisis response, alcohol and drug prevention, health and well-being of students and building strong character and citizenship. She also will lead the Department's homeland security efforts.

Prior to her appointment, Price was chief of staff at the Department's Office of Federal Student Aid, a $60 billion-a-year operation that delivers student financial aid to more than nine million students and families. Prior to this, she was executive director of the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, the blue-ribbon panel charged with examining Title IX, and a senior adviser to the deputy secretary of education.

"Debbie's public service experience in policy issues at the legislative and executive levels makes her an ideal candidate to lead our safe and drug-free schools efforts, and I know the Department will benefit from her leadership," Secretary Paige said. "The safety of our schools is a priority issue in this administration, which is why, under No Child Left Behind, we are helping parents move their children to safer schools."

Before joining the Bush administration, Price was policy adviser to U.S. Sen. Don Nickles (R., Okla.), who was then assistant majority leader. Prior to this, she was director of research and administration for the Senate Republican Policy Committee under Sen. Nickles. Before joining Sen. Nickles' staff, Price worked for Sen. William L. Armstrong (R., Colo.) and also directed the 1985 National Prayer Breakfast.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Price earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is working on a master of theology degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.

Price replaces Eric G. Andell, who resigned in October 2003.

The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools was created in September 2002 to bring together all of the Department's safety, health and citizenship programs. The office works closely with schools to develop plans to deal with the variety of threats they face which, if not addressed, could impede teaching and learning.

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