Editor's note: The Source was informed on Thursday, Jan. 17, that Manuel Justiz will be donating his professional services and that Stephen Feinberg will personally pay for any out-of-pocket expenses Justiz incurs.
Jan. 16, 2002 – Manuel Justiz, dean of The University of Texas College of Education, is a man wearing multiple hats, the most recent handed to him Monday night by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull.
The governor, in his State of the Territory address, announced the appointment of Justiz as his "assistant to the governor for education affairs, including our efforts to retain our accreditation." The reference was to the three public high schools in the territory that had been accredited but lost that status effective Dec. 31 — Central, Charlotte Amalie and Ivanna Eudora Kean.
Speaking Wednesday from his Austin, Texas, office, Justiz said he had just returned from Washington, D.C., where he was confirmed by Congress to sit on the board of the Federal National Mortgage Association (familiarly known as Fannie Mae). That appointment was announced last Oct. 9 by President George W. Bush.
Neither his Virgin Islands appointment nor the Fannie Mae board seat will require him to leave his post at UT, Justiz said. "I have never been to St. Thomas," he said, adding that the assignment he has taken on will not necessarily mean a trip to the territory now.
"At this point, I am looking forward to working with Gov. Turnbull," he said in a telephone interview, "and I apologize that I haven't had time to see the report we have done yet."
He explained that Michael Thomas, assistant dean for administration at UT, had been working on a report from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools on the V.I. schools.
"Mike has a great deal of experience with the accreditation. He was an adviser for the Southern Association. He understands the whole process," Justiz said. "He will give me an analysis and outline what our first steps should be."
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the recognized regional accrediting body in the 11 Southern states, including Texas.
Thomas could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Work may not entail travel to the territory
Justiz said his research will be conducted at UT. "Based on our needs, we may get a small team together to come on site," he said. "I would imagine whether I personally come, circumstances will dictate. A lot of issues have to be resolved at a grassroots level. We need to do this one step at a time, and see what the issues are. I want to get a sense about the loss of accreditation first."
Officials of the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools have said that while the territory's appeal of the loss of accreditation has been received, so has the paperwork for the three schools to become candidates for new accreditation — a process that involves self-assessment and typically takes about a year.
Justiz stressed, "We don't want to get in the way; we just want to be supportive." He added, "I have no idea what our relationship will be with the educators. We want to be very respectful with the educators and the leadership on St. Thomas."
Justiz "will make the substantial resources of The University of Texas available to assist us in reforming the education system in the territory," Turnbull said in his address.
So far, Justiz said, he has had little contact with the governor. He said Saturday was the first time he spoke with Turnbull about the appointment, which was orchestrated by Stephen Feinberg, managing partner of Botany Bay Partners, the group which recently was granted rezoning to build a resort on St. Thomas's ecologically and archaeologically sensitive West End.
The rezoning was strongly opposed by environmental and preservation groups. Turnbull approved it despite a deluge of letters urging him to veto the bill, which had narrowly passed in the Legislature, 8-7.
Feinberg, who sits on the board of the UT College of Education as well as the board of St. John's College, said on Wednesday that he has known Justiz for a long time.
According to Feinberg, he had discussed education matters with Turnbull, a career educator, on several occasions. "When I saw the problem with accreditation in the V.I. , he said, "I talked about it with Manny [Justiz]. We've been close friends for years, and I wanted to see if he could help. I recommended him to the governor."
No fee for professional services
Justiz "has agreed to serve at no cost to the government," Turnbull said in the State of the Territory address. Justiz confirmed he will donate his professional services.
Feinberg said he will pay for any out-of-pocket expenses Justiz may incur.
Procedurally, Feinberg said, "First, Justiz will look at a lot of previous accreditation reports with Middle States and get a feel for what the problems are, what is critical." He said Justiz will work on an "ad hoc advisory basis, not official."
Justiz is highly regarded in the academic and political world. His appointment to the Fannie Mae board marks the second time he has been tapped by President Bush for a government post. When Bush was governor of Texas, he named Justiz to serve on the Texas Education Certification Board.
In a story last Oct. 10 announcing the Fannie Mae appointment, The Daily Texan, the UT student newspaper, quoted University President Larry Faulkner as saying: "In the first conversation I ever had with then-Gov. Bush, he spoke extremely highly of Dean Justiz. I know the president has long held Manny Justiz in high regard, and I'm not surprised at all that he has picked him for a post in the new administration."
Justiz served in the Reagan administration as principal spokesman for education policy and research for the president and the Secretary of Education. He was a member of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, which produced the celebrated study "A Nation at Risk." The study warned of declining standards in American schools and the consequent dangers to society.
At The University of Texas, where he has served as the Education dean since 1990, Justiz has built up academic programs for the College of Education. Under his leadership, the college rose to be ranked 7th among the nation's top public graduate education programs by U.S. News and World Report in 2001.
At UT, he holds the A.M. Aikin Regents Chair in Education Leadership and the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education. He earned a doctorate in higher education administration from Southern Illinois University in 1976. He did his undergraduate work at the Emporia State University in Kansas.
Justiz said there is no time frame for the completion of the study he has committed to carry out for the Turnbull administration.