Successful charter schools and the Charter Management Organizations that run them have grown significantly over the past decade but the limited supply of effective teachers and leaders is a key barrier standing in the way of more rapid growth. Recent studies have indicated that many charter schools have an inadequate pipeline of school leaders and face a looming shortage on the horizon.

Join us for a conversation with charter school leaders to discuss their strategies for overcoming human capital challenges. We will launch the conversation with a paper by Christi Chadwick that analyzes the pipeline-building approaches undertaken by the following six Charter Management Organizations: Green Dot Public Schools; IDEA Public Schools; High Tech High; the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP; Rocketship Education; and YES Prep Public Schools. We will continue and expand on the discussion with a panel of distinguished charter schools and human capital experts.

Military health care costs have skyrocketed more than 300 percent in the past decade and now consume more than 10 percent of the baseline defense budget. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has publicly lamented that these “health care costs are eating the Department of Defense alive,” and in an attempt to begin to address this problem, he recently proposed small increases in the health care fees paid by military retirees. Gates’s modest adjustments, however, are unlikely to significantly diminish future cost growth in the Tricare military health system. As a result, the rising cost of military health care is likely to remain a controversial issue for the foreseeable future.

Join us for a discussion on how to balance the needs of the military retiree community and the American taxpayer. The panelists will critique a recent report by the Center for American Progress that maps out a set of recommendations to reduce health care expenses by $15 billion a year by 2015, enough to hold the military health care budget stable at 2011 levels. These recommendations ensure that active-duty troops will continue to receive health care at no cost and that military retirees will continue to have access to top-quality, affordable health care for life.

The 14th Amendment's provision that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States" has long been understood to guarantee automatic citizenship for all those born on American soil. Yet recently, some state and federal lawmakers have proposed changing the law to exclude children born to undocumented immigrants from what has come to be known as "birthright citizenship."

On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, the Center for American Progress and the American Constitution Society will bring together leading thinkers to discuss what our nation would look like and the impact on all Americans were the 14th Amendment's guarantee to be repealed.

One of the bigger stories coming out of the 2010 Census release of ethnic data was the fact that the Asian population in the United States has grown by nearly 50 percent over the past 10 years. Its growth has even outpaced the Latino community in a number of states including Texas, New Jersey, and Missouri. Moreover, projections indicate that this population will increase 150 percent by the year 2050. Yet in spite of their growing numbers and influence, the APIA community is often overlooked in the political and policy landscape.

To centralize the importance of APIA voters, please join us for a dynamic conversation with leaders from the APIA community.

From Afghanistan and Iraq to Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is engaged daily in trying to help some of the most troubled nations on the planet make a lasting transition to stability, open markets, and democracy. Few areas of the agency’s work are more challenging or more controversial.

Join us for remarks by, and a roundtable with, the deputy administrator of USAID, Ambassador Donald Steinberg, in an unusual bipartisan discussion of the challenges facing the United States as it not only tries to help nations emerge from conflict but to prevent new conflicts and crises from arising around the globe. The conversation will touch on key issues, including the role of the private sector in postconflict settings, the importance of women in shaping enduring peace agreements, lessons learned since 9/11, the role of development in preventing conflict, and the future of assistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

By every measure of qualifications—certification, subject matter background, pedagogical training, selectivity of college attended, test scores, or experience—less-qualified teachers tend to be found in schools serving greater numbers of low-income and minority students. Studies in state after state have found that students of color in low-income schools are 3 to 10 times more likely to have unqualified teachers than students in predominantly white schools.

Please join the Center for American Progress for an event to discuss a new paper, "Speaking of Salaries: What It Will Take to get Qualified, Effective Teachers in All Communities." This paper examines how teacher salaries and teacher qualifications vary across districts, and how this variation is related to student achievement. The authors analyzed data from California and New York to assess the extent to which unequal salaries, and the district revenues that underlie pay and working conditions, may be at the root of the inequitable distribution of teacher talent. Their findings have relevance for state and district policymakers, as well as reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a keynote speech by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on the need for a clear plan for withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

In January, Sen. Gillibrand introduced legislation with three of her senator colleagues to implement the withdrawal of American combat forces from Afghanistan on July 1 of this year. Sen. Gillibrand will address America’s current interests in addressing the metastasized Al Qaeda network and the death of its leader, and securing the Afghan state itself.

A panel discussion will follow to debate the best balance of resources and priorities to advance our interests in Afghanistan, the prospect of a long-term strategic partnership with the Afghan government, and other issues. Please join the Center for American Progress for this latest discussion in a monthly series examining the transition and realignment of American engagement in Afghanistan.

One of the only events in Washington that emphasizes the first three letters in the word fundraiser, the 2011 Progressive Party is the signature annual fundraiser for American Progress. An evening cocktail reception featuring food, beverages, and great entertainment, this event invites our supporters and allies to discuss pressing challenges facing our country with today’s most respected and well-known policymakers and thought leaders. We will celebrate our shared accomplishments and re-dedicate ourselves to a promising, progressive agenda on behalf of all Americans—please join us!