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Personnel File: Ex-San Diego Schools Chief Named Border Czar

By Michele McNeil — April 15, 2009 1 min read
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The Democrats for Education Reform announced this morning that one of their board members, Alan Bersin, will be named to a key post in the Obama administration. Bersin won’t have much to do with education as he leads the Obama administration’s policy on illegal immigration and drug-related violence along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Bersin, is the former superintendent of the San Diego City Schools from 1998 to 2005 and former California Secretary of Education. He was essentially a “border czar” in the U.S. Justice Department under President Clinton.

DFER guys do seem to be popular with the Obama administration. Last week, DFER-Colorado founder Peter Groff was named to a key faith-based post under Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

(Photo: In this May 2006 file photo, Bersin, left, then California’s education secretary, appears at a meeting of the state Board of Education. Rich Pedroncelli/AP-File)