Shirley Hufstedler
Read our coverage of the first U.S. Secretary of Education, who served from 1979 to 1981.
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Shirley Hufstedler, First U.S. Education Secretary: Biography and Achievements
Shirley Hufstedler was the first U.S. Secretary of Education, serving under President Jimmy Carter from 1979 to 1981.
Federal
Jimmy Carter's Education Legacy Stretched From the School Board to the White House
The 39th president helped create the U.S. Department of Education. He had also been a school board member and an education-minded governor.
Federal
Three Ex-Education Secretaries Have Schools Named for Them. Could It Happen for Betsy DeVos?
Three former U.S. education secretaries have K-12 schools named for them. Could the current secretary, Betsy DeVos, ever join the club?
Law & Courts
First-Ever Education Secretary Had a Groundbreaking Tenure at the Department
Shirley M. Hufstedler, who died March 30 at age 90, put her stamp on the new agency at a turbulent time during the Carter administration.
Federal
Shirley M. Hufstedler, First U.S. Secretary of Education, Dies at Age 90
Appointed as the nation's first secretary of education in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, she previously had been a federal appeals court judge and a California appeals court judge.
Education
Standards Issue Puts Ex-Education Secretaries at Odds
All five former U.S. Secretaries of Education, meeting in a forum last month in Atlanta, agreed that it is important to hold students to high standards.
Education
Ex-Education Secretaries Lament Issue's Low Priority in Campaign
The four former secretaries of education convened here just nine days before this week's election for a panel discussion that was dominated by talk of politics, the federal role in education, and President Bush's America 2000 education reform strategy.
Education
Four Former Secretaries Each Put Own Spin on What Ails Schools
The four former secretaries of education who met here for an unprecedented panel discussion earlier this month may have occupied the same office, but they took from it divergent views on what ails the U.S. education system.
Education
Cuts Will Do Long-Term Damage, Former Secretary Hufstedler Says
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Shirley M. Hufstedler warned last week that "the budget struggles on the Potomac right now will have very serious consequences for every aspect of the American educational systems not only in this decade, but well into the next century.