Williamson Evers

Williamson M. "Bill" Evers is an American political activist and education researcher. In 1988, he became associated with the Hoover Institution, situated at Stanford University, first as a national fellow, then a visiting scholar, and most recently a research fellow. He went on leave to become Assistant Secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development in the U.S. Department of Education in 2007.

Political activism

During the 1970s and 80s, Evers was involved in the libertarian movement in the United States and the Libertarian Party specifically. In 1980, he was the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in the 12th Congressional District of California. For several years he edited the left-libertarian magazine "Inquiry". At the time, he was considered a radical (he was a prominent member of the party's Radical Caucus) and an ally of Murray Rothbard against Ed Crane and his supporters. [ [http://www.mises.org/journals/lf/1982/1982_09.pdf BLOCKBUSTER AT BILLINGS] , "The Libertarian Forum", Murray N. Rothbard, ed., September 1982] In 1993, Evers helped defeat an effort to eliminate the LP membership Pledge and moderate the LP Platform. He was still a member of the Libertarian National Committee as of March 1996. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/19960101000000-19971231235959/http://www.lp.org/lp-lnc-dir.html Libertarian Party - National Committee Directory] ]

Evers eventually began to work with the Republican Party, serving on George W. Bush's transition team after the 2000 election and acting as a Bush adviser in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns. [ [http://www.hoover.org/bios/evers.html Hoover Institution - Fellows - Williamson M. Evers] ]

Education activism

In 1995, while his child was a third-grader at Escondido Elementary School in the Palo Alto Unified School District in California, Evers became an outspoken participant in the Math Wars over the teaching of mathematics. He became leading member of the steering committee of a group called HOLD (Honest Open Logical Debate) on Math Reform [ [http://www.dehnbase.org/hold/ Honest Open Logical Debate on math reform] ] and organized a publicity stunt in which he drove a toilet mounted to a truck to a protest outside the school district headquarters and ceremonially flushed the new curriculum. [ [http://www.ams.org/notices/199706/comm-calif.pdf The Math Wars: California Battles It Out over Mathematics Education Reform (Part I)] ]

From 1996 to 1998, Evers was associated with the California State Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards. At the Hoover Institution, he joined its Koret Task Force on K-12 Education, which was formed in 1999.

In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. From July to December 2003, he served as a senior education advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. [ [http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/releases/2833881.html Hoover Fellow Williamson M. Evers Named Senior Education Adviser in Iraq] ] In 2004 he was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Education in California.

On February 8, 2007, Bush nominated Evers to be an assistant secretary of education. His confirmation by the Senate was announced on October 17, 2007. [ [http://ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/10/10172007.html Bill Evers Confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development] ] The eight-month delay was largely attributed to enemies he made during the Math Wars. [Gerry Shih, [http://daily.stanford.org/article/2007/9/27/fellowFacesSenateTest Fellow faces Senate test: Critics block Evers’ appointment to key D.C. education post, others support Hoover scholar] , "The Stanford Daily", September 27, 2007]

Evers has written several opinion columns for well-known publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor.

References

External links

* [http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/bios/evers.html Biography] from the Hoover Institution