Filmus was appointed secretary of education of the City of Buenos Aires by Mayor Aníbal Ibarra, who asked him to become his running mate for his successful 2003 bid for reelection. Newly inaugurated president Néstor Kirchner appointed Filmus Minister of Education before the mayoral race began, however. Filmus also served as staff researcher at the National Research Council from 1997, and as president of the UNESCO Debt-for-Education task force from 2006.
