Chapter 1

Kathleen Lehrer awoke in a cold sweat after the most disturbing dream she had ever had. The new Secretary of Education had only been sworn into office two weeks previously and was just starting to get a handle on the complexities of her new position, while trying to formulate the ideas and policies that would begin to reverse the long decline in education in the United States. As if she didn't have enough on her mind, she found herself wide awake at 3:00 in the morning from a terrifying nightmare that made it impossible for her to go back to sleep. After two hours of tossing and turning, she decided to finally get a shower and go into the office early and try to push the nightmare out of her mind through total immersion in her work.

Forty seven years old, divorced with a twenty two year old son and a nineteen year old daughter, Kathy Lehrer had worked hard, using her considerable intelligence and skills to attain her present position. Graduating first in her class with a degree in History from West Chester State Teachers' College (now University), she went on to earn her Masters degree in History and her Ph.D. in Public Administration from Temple University. She did this while teaching Social Studies at Benjamin Franklin High School in Philadelphia, one of the toughest schools in the city.

A svelte five feet four inches, Kathy Lehrer had been able to keep her weight within a few pounds of 120 for the past 20 years through a combination of swimming and walking. A five mile walk was more common than not. As a result of her almost daily jaunts, she knew every street, and many of the people who lived on those streets, within a three mile radius of her home. Her knowledge of the people she encountered saved her from being mugged twice, once when her attacker recognized her before doing any harm besides shaking her up a bit, and the other time when one of her former students and another of her acquaintances heard her scream and scared off the thug before he could take anything or harm her in any way.

She met her ex-husband while they were both studying at Temple. They were married three weeks after she received her Ph.D. Her ex-husband, Ray Johnston, was a Spanish and French teacher at Central High School in Philadelphia. They had their first child, Marty, eleven months after their marriage.

Finding they could not survive on just Ray's salary, Kathy Lehrer returned to work the following September after making arrangements with her Mother to watch little Marty. Two years later, a year before Sara was born, Kathleen Lehrer was named Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. Three years after Sara was born, she was named to her first administrative position, as assistant principal of Ben Franklin High. It was at about this time that her marriage began to fall apart.

As happens so often, the problems with the marriage boiled down to a break down in communications as the two partners drifted apart. Although they worked for the same school system, they each became caught up in their own careers. Then Ray began having an affair with another teacher from his school. The affair had been going on for almost a year when Kathy discovered what was going on and confronted her husband about it. A terrible argument ensued, with plenty of screaming and tears on both sides, ending only when Ray packed his clothes and moved out.

After a bitter divorce, which resulted in Kathy getting custody of the children and receiving child support payments for them, they sold their house and divided the proceeds. Kathy, Marty and Sara moved in with Kathy's mother. When the divorce was finalized, Kathy changed her name back to her maiden name.