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Secretary Paige appointed John Bailey as Director of Educational Technology in January 2002. As director, he advises senior department officials on educational technology policy and helps to implement this policy throughout Department-wide technology programs. Previous to his appointment, he served as a special assistant to the under secretary. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Mr. Bailey served as Pennsylvania's first director of educational technology where he coordinated educational technology policy for former Governor Tom Ridge.

Mr. Bailey was one of the chief designers of Governor Ridge's internationally recognized Link-to-Learn initiative. This five-year $200 million initiative pioneered the innovative approach of community-based networking to ensure that communities benefit from the technology investments made in education. In 2000, Link-to-Learn marked a fundamental shift in policy by transitioning into the three-year $45 million Students Achieving Standards initiative. The primary goal of this initiative is to measure technologies' impact on teaching and student achievement of the academic standards. In September 1998, Link-to-Learn was rated the nation's best practice in educational technology by the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Digital States report. In January 1999, eSchool News selected Bailey as one of the top 30 most influential people in educational technology.

Bailey also participated in several of Governor Ridge's e-government strategies including the Commonwealth's award-winning portal, PAPowerPort. He coordinated the Department's e-government activities including an infrastructure upgrade and a three-year program to migrate the majority of the Department's business systems to the Web. Several additional online services included:

• e-Grants: an electronic commerce application allowing schools to submit and track their grant applications via the Web.
• e-TechPlanner: A Web-based planning tool designed to assist schools with developing, budgeting, implementing, and managing comprehensive three-year technology plans.
• Distance Learning Exchange: A free, international Web-based service that serves as a directory of distance learning activities ranging from courses for students to professional development for teachers.

Prior to his tenure as director of educational technology in Pennsylvania, Bailey worked at the Clarke Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Contemporary Issues at Dickinson College. In that capacity, he assisted the director with the planning and implementation of a number of conferences and seminars covering a wide range of issues ranging from biomedical ethics to the role of NATO in the post-cold war era.