EDUCATION SECRETARY Rod Paige gave an interview to the Baptist Press early in the year. The publication, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, isn’t widely read in the nation’s capital. But the just-published story, featuring Paige’s comments on Christian schools and Christian values, has drawn notice in Washington. And condemnation. Paige has clarified but declined to apologize for his remarks. And he has rejected demands that he resign. Did he cross a line, or not? There has been some confusion over what exactly Paige, who is a Baptist, said to the Baptist Press. It quoted him as follows: “All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith.” It would seem that Paige was discussing elementary and secondary education. And that is how his critics understand him.

But a transcript of the interview produced by the Education Department shows that Paige was asked a question about higher education. And Paige emphasized at a press conference that he had been asked about “my personal views” and thus had intended to convey merely that he would want to have a child in a college that emphasizes strong Christian values.