Former Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. Photo credit: Hendrix Alumni Association.
Many excellent classroom teachers also serve in positions in the government. One of these is Carol Rasco, a former elementary teacher and school counselor that once served as an Assistant to the President under President Bill Clinton.
Carol was born on January 13, 1948, in Columbia, South Carolina. Later her family moved to DeWitt, Arkansas. As a young woman, she skipped her senior year in high school and enrolled at Hendrix College in 1965. There she first majored in Drama, although she later changed her major to Psychology. After transferring to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Carol earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1969. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Counseling and Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas in 1972.
Carol began her career in education as an elementary school teacher, and later became a counselor at the middle school level. After she earned her Master’s degree, she used her expertise to set up a psychological counseling program in the public school system.
In 1983, this Chalkboard Champion accepted a position in the Arkansas Governor’s Office. She served Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in this position for ten years. Later, when Clinton was elected to the presidency, Carol followed Clinton to Washington, DC, where she worked as an Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 1997 to 2000. She spent the next four years in the US Department of Education in the America Reads Challenge program. During 2001, she worked as a consultant on Government Relations for The College Board, and from 2001 to 2016, she served as the President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental. For the past five years, Carol has worked as a child advocate for Three Boys with Books.
Carol has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. She is currently 73 years old.
