Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, John D. Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress, will testify before the Senate HELP committee on education and the problem of declining graduation rates in high schools. To compete in a 21st century economy, American workers will need to complete some level of post-secondary education. Podesta will discuss proposals to restructure high schools to increase graduation rates and better prepare students for the global workforce.
WHO: John D. Podesta
WHAT: Hearing on NCLB Reauthorization
WHEN: Tuesday, April 24, 2007
10:00 AM
WHERE: Room 628, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.
Biography
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.
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”