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The DOE confirmed in a press release yesterday an interesting tidbit the Times reported the day before and then fleshed out in a profile: Roland Fryer, the man behind the plan to pay some kids for their academic performance, has been hired by the DOE as its "Chief Equality Officer," a title that doesn't appear to have been granted to anyone anywhere before. The position will have wide-ranging responsibilities, according to the press release, ranging from reviewing enrollment and choice procedures, to analyzing the DOE's capital resources, to monitoring principal and teacher recruitment and training. Fryer will donate his services to the DOE next year while he divides his time between Harvard and New York; in the fall of 2008, he will join the DOE full-time at a salary of more than $150,000.