Spreading the Word in Austin

Today some of my staff and I will be heading to Austin, Texas for the Education Commission of the States 2008 ECS National Forum on Education Policy.  I'll be participating on a panel regarding the current educational crisis our country is facing. The campaign will also have a booth at the event distributing information and buttons to those that stop by.

Also, in case you missed it, Real Time Economics – The Wall Street Journal Blog – posted about the latest  Associated Press poll that showed Americans understand the link between a country's education system and its economic prosperity. The poll also highlighted that Americans don't realize how far behind U.S schools have fallen compared to the rest of the world.  Here’s the post:

Nearly nine in 10 of those surveyed by the Associated Press in a poll released on Friday said the quality of education in a country has a large impact on the nation’s economic success. Yet almost half of those polled also said that American students’ achievement test scores are the same as or better than those of children in other industrialized nations. In fact, the United States ranks near the bottom in a survey of students’ math skills in 30 industrialized countries. Hoover Institution economist Eric A. Hanushek estimates that the U.S. would see a 4.5 percent boost in GDP over 20 years if students’ math and science skills improved to become among the best in the world.

The tension between perception and reality is a focus of the ED in 08 campaign, a nonpartisan push to raise awareness of embattled public schools this election year. While Americans profess to care deeply about education, they also indulge in a bit of wishful thinking. Most parents believe that other schools–not their kids'–are the ones dragging down the nations’ test scores. Nearly a third of parents call their child’s school excellent, but only about one-sixth say the same of other schools. Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, the chairman of ED in 08, said: "We have a bit of a reality check that we need to do."

Speaking at the Library of Congress

I am speaking at an event at the Library of Congress today as part of the forum Remaining Competitive in a Flat World. The day-long series of events has a broad array of speakers all of whom will discuss what America must do to become competitive globally. Below is the official statement I made in conjunction with the event: 

“It's like we're driving with a broken gas gauge and praying that the tank is still full,” said Romer. “While a strong majority of Americans believe the quality of America’s schools impact our economy, nearly half – 48 percent – think our students score the same or better than children from other industrialized nations.”

“The education gap between the United States and the rest of the industrialized world is as real as the trade gap between the United States and China,” continued Romer.

“Our young people aren't getting an education that prepares them to succeed in a global marketplace. If America is to remain competitive in a flat world, we must make education reform a priority. That means rigorous standards, more time in school, and performance pay for teachers.”

You can read the full press release after the jump:

Exhibiting at the National Charter Schools Conference

The campaign staff is in New Orleans today for the kickoff of the National Charter Schools Conference. The conference is the only national gathering of the entire charter school community with about 3,000 participating teachers, principals, policymakers, state leaders, funders, advocates, and researchers. My staff tells me there will be over 100 breakout sessions, 50 peer-to-peer roundtable discussions, and an exhibition floor.

ED in '08 will have a presence at the event with a booth in the exhibit hall and Adam Thibault, our policy director, will be leading a breakout session including clips from the education documentary, Two Million Minutes.

The campaign understands the important role that charter schools play in education reform and, as a result, has created a new one-pager on how charter schools can be a pathway for innovation. Here's a short excerpt:

Our schools and students are in trouble; we can no longer wait for the changes that are needed in order to prepare our students for success in college, careers, and life.  Non-traditional public schools, such as charters and magnets, are laboratories for experimentation and innovation, and hold tremendous promise for American students. The successes of many of these innovative schools often rely on some combination of ED in 08’s three policy pillars.  Public school choice that is carefully designed and dutifully implemented can serve as a pathway to implement ED in 08’s three policy pillars:  Common and rigorous standards; effective teachers in every classroom; and more time and support for student learning.

By design, charter schools have control over their own schedules and can create and adjust the school day and year as they see fit.  This gives them a tremendous advantage over the vast majority of public schools that are governed by district schedules, transportation schedules, and labor agreements that stipulate start and end times. The additional time allows these schools to offer more remediation, more enrichment, and more opportunities to develop a culture of high expectations. 

Charter schools represent a pathway to innovation and they can produce some dramatic results through the use of extended learning time and the creation of higher expectations. I look forward to hearing some of the latest best practices from the conference and I'll be sure to upload some photos from the event later this week.

Conferencing with Gov. Bush and Secretary Spellings

I'm in Orlando, Florida today with Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings for the Excellence in Action Summit. The conference is bringing together some of the leaders in education reform to discuss the way forward.

Today's St. Petersburg Times described the conference as, "… an unprecedented gathering of national and international education experts and politicians."

The agenda is packed, and dense, with panel discussion with titles such as "21st Century Classrooms: Harnessing Cutting Edge Technology to Raise Student Achievement."

Some of the topics that are being discussed at the event are raising standards, measuring progress, demanding accountability, and closing the achievement gap. As many of you who read my blog know, these are all topics that I'm passionate about. I'll be taking part in some panels later today and tomorrow. If you're here at the event, make sure you stop by and say hello.

2008 Governors Education Symposium

Gov. Jim Hunt, a great leader for education and a good friend of mine, is hosting the 2008 Governors Education Symposium this weekend in North Carolina. I'm honored to attend the program and I'm excited that this year's event will focus around the topic of increasing the number of students who are college and career-ready, international benchmarking of state standards, and improving state capacity to effectively support teachers and students.

An event like this is very important for reforming our educational system. 

Governors are the leaders in their states, and they are critically important part of improving education for our nation’s students.  They have the ability to rise above local parochial interests and think about all the students in their state.  They can serve as the conduit between national leaders and local school boards.

In the past, many governors have played a critical role in the creation of the current standards, assessment and accountability systems we now have in place.  But what we have done in the past is not good enough for today.  If we do not address our education system’s challenges, we will fall even further behind our international competitors.  The next generation of governors must take more responsibility for the education challenges our nation faces and must commit themselves to work with the next President to dramatically reform and improve our nation’s schools.

When I return, I'll be sure to share with you some of the best practices that I hear during the symposium.

Missouri Wrap-Up

We're back from Missouri and I wanted to share with you some of the articles that ran across the state about our campaign. You can read about the event in the clips below and also, don't forget to view the slideshow of pictures from our launch.

Local Fox Affiliate -- St. Louis 
Are your kids prepared to compete with the world? The number of U.S. students who won't graduate high school this spring is startling...1.2 million nationally, 20,000 in Missouri alone. The Gates Foundation is partially funding a campaign underway at the St. Louis Science Center. Our policy director Adam Thibault explains the goals of the "National Education Reform Campaign.  (Adam did a great job representing the campaign; take a moment to hear him talk about our outreach.)

More clips after the jump:

ED in '08 Launches in Missouri

The campaign is in St. Louis today for the launch of our outreach in the Show-Me State. We're hosting an event with over 200 students and elected officials at the Saint Louis Science Center. Today's event will be led by State Rep. Scharnhorst, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, and former Gov. Bob Holden.

Our policy director, Adam Thibault, was on the local Fox news station this morning discussing our campaign and the Missouri launch. You can watch that clip here.

We'll have pictures from the Science Center event up shortly and you can check out our Missouri Web page for the latest news and events taking place in the state.  For now, I wanted to share with you part of my statement regarding today's event:

"In Missouri, a ninth grader attending one of the two largest school districts has less than a 40 percent chance of graduating from high school within four years.

"As we approach high school graduation this spring, our campaign is working with key leaders in Missouri to urge the candidates to focus on the importance of improving America’s education system so all students who graduate from high schools in Missouri and across America are prepared for college, work and life. Missouri continues to be a key state in the presidential election and I look forward to working with the strong bipartisan leadership team in Missouri, as well as other key states, such as Ohio and Iowa as we continue to galvanize support for education reform this election cycle."

Members of our Missouri Advisory Team can also be found on our site.

Ohio pictures and press coverage

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  As I shared with you last week, we officially launched our campaign in Ohio. You can view pictures from the event in the slideshow below or by visiting our Flickr page. I've also included some of the news coverage the launch received below:

The Columbus Dispatch
"Candidates urged to focus on schools: Group making education issue in '08"

Associated Press
"Advocate: registering youths should trump partisan efforts"

Gongwer News Service-Ohio
"Capitol scene: former Gov. Taft joins education campaign"

Also, I represented ED in '08 on NPR's Weekend Edition on Sunday discussing the role of education in the 2008 election. Listen to the interview and let me know what you think.

And We're Launched!

I'm in Columbus, Ohio and we've just launched our campaign in the state with an event at the Center of Science and Industry.  Joining the campaign for the state-wide kickoff were elected officials and business leaders from across Ohio and over 250 students.

Recent statistics tell us that this spring, more than 40,700 Ohio students will not graduate with their peers, resulting in millions of dollars in lost wages, taxes and productivity. It is estimated that dropouts in Ohio from the class of 2007 cost the state more than $10.6 billion. We've launched an Ohio webpage where you can find more education statistics and the latest news of our efforts in the state.

We'll have some pictures from today's launch up shortly, but I thought I'd share with you two excerpts from my remarks today and introduce you to our Ohio Advisory Team:

Blogger Summit Wrap-up

P.S. I also wanted to share with you some other video clips from the summit. Feel free to view them and let me know what you think  in the comments. Keep an eye out for more videos from the summit all week long on our YouTube channel.

Here are Huffington Post blogger Dan Brown...

...and Teaching in the 408 Blogger Kilian Betlach:

Announcing the Bloggers' Choice Award

After a full day of blogging and great discussion surrounding education reform and the 2008 election, I’m off to Denver. My colleague Holly Zardus is wrapping up the summit and presenting the 2008 Bloggers' Choice Award. The first-place recipient is an unconventional blog from a teacher who blogs with his classroom: the South Titan Government Blog, taught by Ray Keller, a high school history teacher.

In the submission for nomination, Keller wrote,

"As a secondary government teacher in a public school, I am trying to find ways to get my students to begin to voice their opinions. Most of my students would rather type or text about an issue, than to speak about it in class. I have had almost 2000 comments posted by high school students in my first year of having the blog. These comments were not required as assignments for the class and many students truly expressed their opinions on many issues ranging from illegal immigration to the campaign ads."

Congratulations to Mr. Keller and his students.

I’d also like to recognize Tracy Bryant Stuckey, writer of Early Education is the Key who was the runner up for this year’s award.

The statement from the nomination form:

"Tracey offers her readers insightful information that causes them to reflect on the role they can begin taking toward educational change. She offers parents solutions to educational problems and she gives examples of how we got to where we are in the first place. She is definitely a teacher and an advocate for developing 21st century skills in young children."

Keep checking the Blogger Summit homepage as there will be pictures, video clips and highlights from this year’s event. Also, use the comments section below to share your thoughts with me on what you thought about the event.

Video Blogging from the Summit

Our staff running the Blogger Summit pulled me aside after the morning sessions to film my comments below, and hopefully other bloggers will join me in video blogging throughout today's events.

Posting from the Blogger Summit

Today I’m at the ED in '08 Blogger Summit with education bloggers from around the country at the Hotel Palomar in Washington, D.C. I've been looking forward to this opportunity to bring together some of the leading education bloggers and hear their thoughts on how we should move forward to improve our educational system.

As I've come to realize, by writing in this space, blogging is a powerful tool which can be used to continue to push the discussion and ideas of education reform into the mainstream. I have the honor of introducing the first panel (titled " Shaping Education Reform: The Issues Ahead" and moderated by Alexander Russo) and briefly sharing some of my thoughts on raising standards, improving teacher quality, and giving more time and support for learning. I’ll be around most of the day, so come by and say hello.

The New Republic Event

We had a great event today at the National Press Club where the campaign joined with The New Republic to sponsor a discussion on "Which Way to Education Excellence?"

I joined with Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Joel Klein, Superintendent of Prince George's County Schools John Deasy, KIPP Schools Co-Founder Mike Feinberg and President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Chester E. Finn, Jr. to outline the serious problems facing America’s schools and stressed the need for leadership at the national, state & local level to fix the nation’s education crisis. The panel underscored the need for the next president to give personal attention and leadership to an education agenda.

I'll tell you more about the event later, and it will be featured in an upcoming issue of The New Republic. For now, be sure to check out some of the event pictures on our Flickr page.

Milken Wrap-up

I'm back from the Milken event in Los Angeles and with over 3,000 attendees from around the country, the event was a good place to discover and discuss the latest innovations and thoughts on topics such as health, education, and the economy. I mentioned earlier in the week that I sat on a panel at the event with 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics winner Gary Becker, Eli Broad, Michael Morris and Lowell Milken.

We had a thought-provoking discussion that focused on America's education system compared to the rest of the world. We also discussed critical solutions for getting our country back on track and fixing our schools. KTLA covered parts of the panel discussion, which you can watch in the clip below.

As I've mentioned before, I strongly believe that we are losing the education race worldwide. As recently as 1998, the U.S. ranked first in percentage of 25-34 year olds with at least a bachelor's degree, but by 2005 it had dropped to 7th.  Between 2000 and 2005, out of 23 countries, the U.S. was the only country that showed no increase in its postsecondary graduation rate.  And while America once had the best high school graduation rate in the world, it has now slipped to 20th out of 26 countries.

Fixing our mediocre education system is something that we must do and as I witnessed from the event – there's great interest to do so. I can only hope that the candidates will continue to offer their plans for true education reform – our students and our country deserve that.

Back in Los Angeles

I'm blogging from the road today in Los Angeles where the campaign is participating in the 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference. We'll be participating in a number of roundtable discussions including: "Education Reform: Learning from the Competition in Asia," "Business Leader's Toolkit: How Business Executives Can Influence Education Reform," and "A Nation Paralyzed: Is the United States at Risk of Losing the Education Race Worldwide?"

The Milken Institute Global Conference brings together some of the most extraordinary people in the world - from scientists, business executives and philanthropists to journalists, academics and Nobel laureates - to discuss, debate and deliberate today's most pressing social, political and economic challenges. I'm excited for the event and look forward to sharing some lessons learned over the week.

Also, in case you missed it – ED in '08 was featured on ABC's World News Tonight this weekend. Watch it and let me know what you think in the comments.   

Philadelphia’s Charter Schools

Our team will be leading a discussion of the documentary Two Million Minutes Wednesday at Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia. In gearing up for the upcoming event, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to charter schools. As many of you know, charter schools are founded by parents, educators, community groups or private organizations and they are funded with taxpayer money. Essentially, they operate as deregulated public schools that accept increased accountability in exchange for decreased regulations and requirements.

A colleague of mine came across an interesting working paper published by RAND on "Evaluating the Performance of Philadelphia’s Charter Schools" and I thought I’d share it with you. The paper reports that Philadelphia has seen a dramatic increase in the number of charter schools since 1997. Beginning with only three, the school district now has over 60. The report examines the effects that charter schools have had on student achievement in Philadelphia and its results are quite impressive.

2 Million Minutes in the Steel City

Yesterday, in collaboration with the Learning Policy Center at the University of Pittsburgh, ED in '08 kicked off our events in Pennsylvania with a screening of the documentary Two Million Minutes. Rachel Bird, our Senior Policy Analyst participated in a panel discussion about the film with Derrick Lopez, Pittsburgh Chief of High School Reform and Bill Isler, President of the Pittsburgh School Board.

Rachel tells me it was a full house with around 70 attendees including faculty, students, educators and other education community leaders. I was pleased to hear that there was a lot of discussion around raising expectations and the need for comprehensive K-12 education reform. I was also pleased to hear the audience understood that global competitiveness and the economic security of our nation depend on the education of our nation’s youngsters.

Likewise, without a strong education system, we can’t fix the problems of global warming or healthcare, and without a top-notch education system, we can’t come close to competing for jobs with other countries that spend more time studying and have more rigorous standards. 

Check out today’s coverage of the event in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

TFA Alumni Have the Right Ideas

Over the weekend, Teach for America held their DC-metro area meeting. The event brought together leaders in education including Prince George's County Superintendent John Deasy and District of Columbia Chancellor Michelle Rhee. A few of our staff are Teach for America alumni, and they participated in the conference by handing out information about our campaign, talking with current and former teachers, and recruiting 60 additional supporters to our effort.

Aaron Seligman, our field director, attended the opening panel that featured Superintendent Deasy and Chancellor Rhee. He told me that they were asked, "What is the most important thing that would make your schools better?"

I'm encouraged by their answers. They both said that having outstanding teachers and being able to retain them in the classroom is the most important element to improving our schools.

Talking to the State Boards of Education

This week ED in 08 has been all over Capitol Hill. We had Bill Gates yesterday, and this morning, executive director Marc Lampkin sat on a panel with education policy experts for a panel discussion at the National Association of State Boards of Education's (NASBE) annual legislative conference to discuss the future of school reform. Yesterday, the NASBE conference featured members of Congress from the House Education Committee, the superintendent at Miami-Dade Public Schools, and of course, NASBE executive director Brenda Welburn.

Teaching and Learning Celebration in NYC

I have a busy day ahead of me in Los Angeles, but I'm already looking ahead to tomorrow in New York City. I will address channel Thirteen's Teaching & Learning Celebration conference during the panel discussion "Where We Stand: America's Schools in the 21st Century." The panel will examine where American schools stand in the world, global competitiveness in science and math, and what we can do to strengthen American education.

Keeping Finland in Perspective

Last October, I had the opportunity to speak about ED in '08 at the Microsoft World Summit in Helsinki, Finland. While I was there, I was struck by the interest people from around the world took in education, and the seriousness of purpose with which they discussed innovations and accountability. While I was questioned often about U.S. schools and No Child Left Behind in particular, many people there were more interested in what was happening in Finnish schools than American ones.

Staying Busy - ED Hits Texas, Arizona, California, and New York!

The presidential candidates aren't the only ones crossing the nation to spread their messages. This week, ED in '08 has events from coast to coast, from press meetings in California to film screenings and panel discussions in New York. We'll be campaigning in Texas for the busy primary tomorrow, and speaking in Washington, DC today, all in order to raise awareness of the critical role education plays in future of our nation. More and more people are asking about education in this election, and we're working hard to make sure those questions get answered.

Closing Out the Week, Looking Ahead

Today I'd like to take a few moments to highlight some of the many interesting events and happenings from this past week that I didn't have the chance to write about earlier.

First, a couple of different articles ran this week that are worth reading. BusinessWeek released an interactive feature focusing on America's declining economic competitiveness and its links to education.

On the Ground at the Ohio Debate

Last night we saw the final debate among the Democratic candidates before voters head to the polls for the key primary contests next week in Texas and Ohio. The candidates met at Cleveland State University, while Brian Williams and Tim Russert moderated what was at times a feisty debate.

ED in '08 was one of the debate's sponsors, which is why you may have seen some of our signs and logos around the spin room following the broadcast.

Same Message, New Urgency

Last week, at the Yale School of Management's Education Leadership Conference, my colleague, ED in '08 executive director Marc Lampkin, had the opportunity to do just that. ...

At the conference, Marc spoke about the need to apply urgency that education reform feels toward political activism. Despite the commitment many in the education community share toward reform, I often notice that relatively few consider themselves to be politically relevant, or use their voices to make education more of a priority for policy makers.

Adding Community Colleges to the Discussion

We spend a lot of time talking to educators of elementary and secondary students, but this morning I had the opportunity to address the 2008 Community College National Legislative Summit, and hear from the leaders of community colleges from across the United States. It was a packed house, with over 1,000 attendees.

I spoke about our work here at ED in '08 and the challenges facing our schools, challenges that impact the millions of students who enroll in colleges each year, about half of whom attend community colleges.

To the Field Teams- Many Thanks

In the lull between the storm of caucuses and primaries across the country, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the thousands of ED in '08 supporters nationwide who have turned out to our field events, worn a button, signed a petition, or held a sign in solidarity with our mission here at ED in '08.

Marching in Memory

This weekend, I'll be heading down to South Carolina to join some of our ED in '08 staff on the ground there - I have been invited by the NAACP of South Carolina to speak at their annual Martin Luther King Jr., Day celebration in Columbia. The event will begin with a service honoring Dr. King, followed by a march from the church to the South Carolina state house.

Upcoming Screenings - Two Million Minutes

I've written in the past about the documentary "Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination." ED in '08 has partnered with Broken Pencil Productions to release the film, which follows students from the United States, India, and China as they complete their senior years in high school and compete to get into selective universities.  The screenings kicked off in Des Moines, Iowa last month and will continue today in Columbia, S.C.  For those of you in South Carolina, I'd like to invite you to a special screening of the film in advance of the presidential primary this weekend.

Campaigning on ED in South Carolina

As the primaries heat up, we've been seeing a lot of commentary on voter priorities. The Chicago Tribune weighed in on Monday, focusing on the concerns of Black voters in South Carolina, and education in particular.

Talking Business at Education Matters

I caught a flight earlier today to Boulder, where tomorrow morning I'll be the keynote speaker at "Education Matters," an annual event held by Impact on Education and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. They have a simple goal that I completely support - to educate the local business community about the important links between public education and a strong economy.

Taking Hold of Change

There is a wave of excitement working in New Hampshire and across America. The desire for substantial change is being echoed by voices in both parties. We've seen it on the campaign trail, and the candidates are talking about it at almost every turn.

On to New Hampshire!

After the excitement of the Iowa Caucus, it can be hard to leave (as some of the ED in '08 staff discovered, but now we've hit the ground running in New Hampshire in anticipation of the state primary tomorrow.

Let's Get Education on the Party Platforms in Iowa

Things are continuing to heat up here in Iowa.

Last night the ED in '08 staff and teams of Iowa ED in '08 supporters were out in full force, attending the candidates' last minute caucus rallies and raising awareness of ED in '08. You can take a look at some of the pictures they took on our Flickr page.

Teaming up with Ken Melhman to talk education in Iowa

I want to welcome my readers back from a holiday break, and hope everyone's ready for the political side of the campaign. I won't be talking much about specific policies or new research this next week or so. It's not that the specifics aren't important, it's just that right now our campaign, like everyone interested in who becomes the next president, is focused on Iowa and New Hampshire.