Lauren Maddox
Lauren Maddox, 44, served as Assistant Secretary of Education from 2006 through 2008, and is one of the GOP’s leading authorities on education issues. She has an MA from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern and is fluent in Latin.
Maddox was previously senior communications advisor and Deputy Press Secretary to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. She was one of the first staffers he hired after assuming the GOP leadership, and Gingrich was impressed with her efforts on behalf of the Contract With America.
Maddox began her career on Capitol Hill as press secretary for Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO), and served in the same post for GOP Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (OK). She arrived at her new job on November 9, 1989, the day the Berlin Wall came down.
She thought it was a good omen in her quest over the next six years, which was returning House Republicans to majority status for the first time in four decades. When that dream was achieved she had a front row seat in the Speaker’s office.
Maddox learned key outreach skills from Gingrich and used them to help draft the strategic communications plan for the 2000 campaign which resulted in the election of President George W. Bush.
She serves on the Board of the conservative group American Action Forum, and competes in the annual Marine Corps Marathon. Maddox is expected to help draft the education section of the 2012 GOP Platform. Our guess is that it will be similar to what she is saying now:
“The United States spends far more than other countries on education, but it wastes nearly one out of two education dollars. In the past 22 years, per-pupil
spending has increased 40 percent, but achievement remains flat.
“Pouring more money into the existing system and increasing the government’s role has not been – and will not be – a successful solution. Unions are continuing to oppose key reforms such as merit pay, teacher evaluations and salaries based on student achievement.”
Republican Security Council 