In February 2004, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced the appointment
of Deborah A. Price as deputy under secretary in charge of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS). In this capacity, Ms. Price oversees the Department’s activities related to safe schools, crisis response, alcohol and other drug abuse prevention, health and well-being of students, and building strong character and citizenship. She also leads the Department’s homeland security efforts.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Price was chief of staff at the Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, a $60 billion-a-year operation that delivers student financial aid to more than nine million students and families. Prior to this, she was executive director of the Secretary’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, the blue-ribbon panel charged with examining Title IX, and a senior adviser to the deputy secretary of education.

“Debbie’s public service experience in policy issues at the legislative and executive levels makes her an ideal candidate to lead our safe and drug-free schools efforts, and I know the Department will benefit from her leadership,” Secretary Paige said.

Recently, The Challenge had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Price about her work to create safer, healthier school environments for all children.

The Challenge: You’ve had an interesting path to your position with the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools—tell us about it.

Ms. Price: Prior to my work at the Department, I worked in the Senate for 16 years—6 of those in the assistant majority leader’s office. Education and safe and drug-free schools were among the key legislative issues I covered, so I’ve been involved with this topic for many years.

When I came over to the U.S. Department of Education, I was excited to work in the Office of Federal Student Aid because that office truly touches individuals’ lives. Every day, we gave
a check to an individual that allowed him or her to go to school. That work directly impacts people’s lives in such a significant way.

When I moved over to OSDFS, I knew it would be a great fit. The subject matter is of great importance to me because the work directly affects all students. Our work is the preface for everything else the Department does. All of the work we do to make schools safe and healthy provides the right atmosphere for education to happen. If a school isn’t safe, children can’t learn, at least not to the extent they could in a safe environment.

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