The Trump administration fired Peggy Carr so abruptly from her national education job that she had very little time to collect her belongings before she was ushered out the door.

Now, Gov. Wes Moore is giving Carr a spot on the Maryland State school board representing Montgomery County.

Carr was one of several Black women in prestigious positions Trump let go in the past year. Carla Hayden, the former librarian of Congress and head of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, was another.

Carr spent 30 years at the National Center for Education Statistics, one of the largest statistical agencies in the country, and led it for the last several years. She was the first Black person and first woman to hold the job.

Carr is known for her work building the assessment that tracks the educational progress of public school students across the nation. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also called the Nation’s Report Card, is given every two years in key grades in reading and math. It is considered the gold standard for education testing.

“Few leaders know student achievement at a national level like Dr. Peggy Carr,” school board President Josh Michael said in a text message. “After decades stewarding the Nation’s Report Card, the nation’s loss is Maryland’s gain, and our board will benefit from her expertise from day one.”

Coincidentally, the school board is transitioning in the next two years to a new set of assessments that will be given to students beginning in third grade in reading, math and other subjects.

The state school board position is a volunteer and not a paid position.

Carr is a visiting professor in the College of Education at the University of Maryland.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.