Roderick Paige

As superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, Paige has revitalized the country's seventh-largest district, forcing students caught with weapons to be expelled or placed in alternative schools, penalizing administrators who head failing schools, prorating principals' salaries to student performance, and markedly increasing student test scores. He has indicated he would consider vouchers to help send students to private school using public funds. He was elected to the Houston Independent School District Board of Education in 1989, and from 1971 to 1990, he held several positions with Texas Southern University.