The audience didn't boo, but this was a civilized crowd. They just got up and kept on walking out. In the diminishing numbers, one man asked, "What is it like in a department to function without key posts?"

"What does it say about an administration which calls itself the Education Presidency that Bush would leave these posts open? What do you think is the president's opinion regarding public opinion--should educational reform reflect it or effect it?"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

THE fact that Bush is still calling himself the Education President while turning men like Williams loose on the public is terrifying. Williams' speech was mediocre and sycophantic. It was not a defense of democracy--it was a weak defense of Cavazos.

Why is someone like Williams in the Department of Education at all? And why is the position of assistant secretary of education still unfilled? Despite Bush's call for a governor's conference on education, despite his Educational Excellence Act, this state of limbo in the Department of Education refutes Bush's claims to be the Education President.

It isn't that Bush or Cavazos have bad ideas about education. Or even that they have no ideas. Bush's Educational Excellence Act seems like a sound proposal for aiding our schools. And, as Governor Kean said in his speech just hours later, the governor's conference is an "exciting first step which shows that Bush is willing to take the lead."

But why is Williams still the acting assistant secretary? (He doesn't want the permanent job--fortunately.)

His response was that Congress' failure to pass the pay raise made his job--which would have paid $120,000 under the proposed legislation--an $80,000 job. Small beans for someone who could likely be making over $100,000 elsewhere. And, he said, "Remember John Tower. Who wants to go through that scrutiny?"

This was actually Williams' best response all morning, but it doesn't seem on target. As he answered, someone in the audience wrote on the back of a piece of paper: "Sign below if you would take a job at the Department of Education for under $120,000."

There were signatures. And there were more than a few people in that room, or at least at the conference, who are eminently qualified to be in a position at the Department of Education. If Bush wanted to make that position a priority, he could fill it--probably even without a scandal. But he hasn't.

Bush's rhetoric and his actions have proven to be far apart. For the good of our country, we should hope that the idea of an Education President is not a dream. But if Williams is any indication, we should all wake up now.