More Resources Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools Office of Innovation and Improvement

It's official.  Two new offices at the department are open for business. 

On September 17, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced the formation of two new offices — the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.   The offices officially became operational December 16.

Paige says OII will be the "nimble, entrepreneurial arm" of the department that will make strategic investments in promising education practices and widely disseminate the results.   OII will consolidate programs related to parental options and education, including those for charter schools, magnet schools, public school choice, non-public education and family educational rights.  It also will coordinate with the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education the public school choice and supplemental services provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Nina Shokraii Rees, formerly deputy assistant to the vice president for domestic policy, will serve as the deputy undersecretary in charge of OII.  At the White House, Rees served as an advisor to the vice president on education, crime, homeownership, race, welfare, and other issues affecting families and children.

Former Texas appeals court justice Eric G. Andell, formerly senior advisor to Paige, will lead the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Office as its deputy undersecretary.  As special counsel to Paige, Andell provided recommendations and guidance on various legal matters that required secretarial or departmental actions.  Prior to joining the department, Andell served the state of Texas as a judge for the 315^th District Court.   During his earlier tenure as a juvenile court judge, Andell helped establish High Point High School, one of the earliest high schools committed to serving at risk students that had been expelled from the public school system.

A primary goal of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools will be to assist schools in developing plans to deal with the variety of threats they face and that, if not addressed, could impede teaching and learning.  This office also will take the leadership role in the department's Homeland Security efforts.

To find out more about OII, please visit their Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii.  Visit the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs.

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