Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness

February 28, 2007, 10:00am – 11:30am

About This Event

The Center for American Progress invites you to the release of a new U.S. Chamber of Commerce report, Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness. In April of 2006, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Center for American Progress and Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute to assess how well each state’s K–12 education system is preparing students to compete in the 21st century. Unique partners in this endeavor, we share the common goal of creating opportunity for all children to succeed.

Please join us as we reflect on the performance of our nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia in nine areas including academic achievement, rigor of academic standards, postsecondary workforce readiness, and return on investment. The Center for American Progress and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will also introduce a joint platform for educational reform. The challenges to preparing a better educated workforce and citizenry necessitates that a wide spectrum of stakeholders join together in promoting substantial education reforms.

Featured Speakers:
Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
John D. Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress

Featured Panelists:
Ulrich Boser, Freelance Writer and Contributing Editor at US News and World Report
Cynthia G. Brown, Director of Education Policy, Center for American Progress
Frederick M. Hess, Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Moderated by:
Arthur J. Rothkopf, Senior Vice-President and Counselor to the President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Location

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Hall of Flags
1615 H Street NW

Washington, DC 20062

Biographies

Thomas J. Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing 3 million companies, associations, state and local chambers, and American Chambers of Commerce abroad. Since assuming his position in 1997, Donohue has built the Chamber into a lobbying and political force with expanded influence across the globe.

Prior to his current post, Donohue served for 13 years as president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations, the national organization of the trucking industry. Donohue serves on three corporate boards of directors. In addition, he is a member of the President’s Council on the 21st Century Workforce as well as the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Donohue is president of the Center for International Private Enterprise, a program of the National Endowment for Democracy dedicated to the development of market-oriented institutions around the world.

Born in New York City in 1938, Donohue earned a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in business administration from Adelphi University. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Adelphi, St. John’s, and Marymount Universities.

John D. Podesta is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta served as chief of staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, where he was responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, Congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House. He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy, and served in the President's cabinet and as a principal on the National Security Council. Podesta has also held a number of positions on Capitol Hill including: counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle; chief counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee; chief minority counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks; Security and Terrorism; and Regulatory Reform; and counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Podesta is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Knox College.

Ulrich Boser is a freelance writer, covering education and social issues. His byline has appeared in dozens of publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, and Smithsonian. He also serves as a contributing editor for US News and World Report.

Cynthia G. Brown is Director of Education Policy and served as Director of Renewing our Schools, Securing our Future National Task Force on Public Education, a joint initiative of the Center and the Institute for America's Future. Cindy has spent over 35 years working in a variety of professional positions addressing high-quality, equitable public education. Prior to joining the Center for American Progress, she was an independent education consultant who advised and wrote for local and state school systems, education associations, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and a corporation.

From 1986 through September 2001, Brown served as Director of the Resource Center on Educational Equity of the Council of Chief State School Officers. She was appointed by President Carter as the first Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education (1980). Prior to that position, she served as Principal Deputy of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's (HEW) Office for Civil Rights. Subsequent to this government service, she was Co-Director of the nonprofit Equality Center. Before the Carter Administration, she worked for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law, the Children's Defense Fund, and began her career in the HEW Office for Civil Rights as an investigator. Brown has a Master's in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a B.A. from Oberlin College. She serves as Chair of both the Institute for Responsive Education and American Youth Policy Forum Boards of Directors and on the Boards of Directors of the Hyde Leadership Public Charter School and the National Association for Teen Fitness and Exercise.

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and executive editor of Education Next. He is known for his work on a diverse range of educational issues including urban education, accountability, charter schooling and school vouchers, educational politics, teacher and administrative licensure, local governance, competition, and school improvement.

Dr. Hess is currently a faculty associate of the Harvard University Program in Education Policy and Governance and serves as Innovations Advisor in Education and Training for the Ash Institute at Harvard University. He is also on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, the Research Advisory Board for the National Center for Educational Accountability, and the Charter School Accreditation Advisory Board of the American Academy for Liberal Education. From 2001-2003, he served on the National Working Commission on Choice in K-12 Education, and he currently is a senior research associate for the School Choice Demonstration Project at Georgetown University. He speaks frequently at colleges and universities and in other venues including the White House, the Chicago Federal Reserve, and the National Press Club.

Dr. Hess is a former public high school social studies teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is licensed to teach in Massachusetts and Louisiana. He holds an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. Prior to joining AEI, Dr. Hess taught education and politics at the University of Virginia and served as a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute.

Arthur J. Rothkopf serves as Senior Vice-President and Counselor to the President of the Chamber. His responsibilities include work on several initiatives including education and workforce development.

Prior to joining the Chamber staff in July 2005, Mr. Rothkopf served for 12 years as President of Lafayette College, Easton, PA, a highly selective undergraduate college of liberal arts and engineering. Lafayette raised $213 million in a capital campaign recently conducted under his leadership. During his tenure, the college’s endowment more than doubled to over $600 million.

Before becoming Lafayette President in July 1993, he was Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. He was appointed to this position by President George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate. Before becoming Deputy Secretary, he served as General Counsel of the Department (also a Senate-confirmed position).

Prior to joining DOT, Mr. Rothkopf was a senior partner in the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson, specializing in tax, regulatory, and legislative representation of U.S. and foreign clients. He was director of the firm’s international operations. He began his career as a lawyer for the U.S. Treasury Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission. He earned his B.A. degree from Lafayette and his law degree from Harvard.

Mr. Rothkopf serves as a member of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education established by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. He also serves as a member of the Board of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and as a trustee of American University. He is President of the Pennsylvania Society and currently serves on the board of directors of two for-profit companies, one of which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He is past Board Chair of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, and was a trustee of the Lehigh Valley Hospital and a director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. It includes hundreds of associations, thousands of local chambers, and more than 100 American Chambers of Commerce in 91 countries.