David L. Dunn

David L. Dunn, of Texas, was designated January 17, 2006, by President George W. Bush to be Acting Under Secretary of Education.

Profiles
Dunn, Chief of Staff to Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, "has worked closely with Spellings for the past 15 years. Both Spellings and Dunn worked for the Texas School Board Association as lobbyists. A budget expert, Dunn later joined a state education policy center, where he helped develop one of the first school accountability systems in the nation," Michael Dobbs wrote in the May 12, 2005, Washington Post.

"After Spellings moved to the White House staff in 2001 to oversee the implementation of No Child Left Behind, she brought Dunn as her assistant. They are both viewed as policy wonks, steeped in educational issues. He followed her to the Education Department, where he works out of a seventh-floor office next to hers.

"Since taking over as chief of staff, Dunn has reorganized the operations of the department, including the much-criticized information operation. In the past, many program offices had their own spokesmen. On Spellings's instructions, Dunn is pulling the communications effort into a single team 'so that we can ensure a consistent message.'

"'He is smart, energetic, people-friendly and policy-savvy,' said Texas lawyer Sandy Kress, who, with Spellings, helped write the No Child Left Behind legislation. While some education experts privately question Dunn's administrative skills, most agree that he is pleasant to deal with," Dobbs wrote.