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New Texas Education Agency Leader

A tea party favorite who worked for the U.S. Department of Education under President George H.W. Bush was tapped Monday to become Texas' top education official, and he'll take over just weeks before the start of major litigation over the way the state funds its public schools.  On the first day of school for many students across the state, Gov. Rick Perry chose Michael Williams to lead the Texas Education Agency, which oversees Texas' 1,200 school districts and charter schools. Williams will take over the education agency just before the Oct. 22 trial in Austin for the school districts' lawsuit. School districts representing about 70 percent of Texas' 5 million public-school students sued the state after the Legislature last year cut $4 billion from public education funding and an additional $1.4 billion from grant programs even though statewide enrollment has been growing.

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