The Rise and Fall of the Spellings Commission

The invitation arrived in late June 2005. The secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, was asking me to join her in Denver for a round-table discussion focusing on higher education. Nothing seemed right: There was no list of invited participants, no offer to cover travel costs, no indication really of intended purposes or likely outcomes. I had all but decided to decline, citing family and other responsibilities, when an e-mail message arrived from Jim Duderstadt, president emeritus of the University of Michigan, saying he hoped that I would join him for breakfast in Denver the morning of the round table. I bought my tickets that afternoon.