CNN Dialogues

The Real National Debt: What We Owe America's Students

Thursday, February 28, 2013
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Rich Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center
Atlanta, Georgia

On behalf of CNN, the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, you are cordially invited to the seventh CNN Dialogues forum.

Tickets are complimentary. Registration is required, and you will be asked to present registration confirmation at the door. Seating is limited and based on time of arrival.

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How do we re-establish the credibility and value of public education in the United States? Many believe that the public educational system is in trouble. It struggles under the weight of politically-charged and competing priorities, controversial new accountability strategies and deep funding inequities. Voices from the left, right and center, from academia, from corporate America, and from philanthropy disagree about what is wrong with public schools and how to fix them. It is crucial that we have a meaningful conversation about what is best for our students. The future of this country depends on our ability to produce an effective and innovative public educational system for America's youth.

Event Moderator

Christine Romans, CNN

Christine Romans is host of CNN's Saturday morning business show, Your Bottom Line. She covers the money issues that most affect the middle class: the economy, markets, jobs and education. Each day she contributes to CNN's morning shows and to CNN International's business coverage.

Romans is the author of two books: How to Speak Money (Wiley 2011) and Smart is the New Rich (Wiley 2010). Romans received an Emmy Award in 2004 for her work on "Exporting America," a CNN investigation into the impact of globalization on U.S. workers.

Romans is a graduate of Iowa State University. (Photo: CNN)

Event Panelists

Prudence L. Carter, Stanford University

Prudence L. Carter is Associate Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Sociology at Stanford University where she teaches a range of courses on racial and ethnic relations, social and cultural inequality, the sociology of education, urban education and research methods. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2007, Carter was Associate Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. Carter's primary research and teaching agenda focuses on explanations of enduring social and cultural inequality among social groups. Specifically, she focuses on academic and mobility differences attributable to racial, ethnic, class and gender forces and consults with school districts and educators on various policy and practices pertaining to these issues. Her award-winning and best-selling book, Keepin' It Real: School Success beyond Black and White (Oxford University Press 2005), debates various cultural explanations used to explain school achievement and racial identity for low-income Black and Latino youth in the United States. Carter's most recent books include Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. & South African Schools (Oxford University Press, 2012) and Closing the Opportunity Gap: What American Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance, co-edited with Kevin Welner (Oxford University Press, forthcoming April 2013).

Erin Hames, State of Georgia

Erin Hames is Deputy Chief of Staff of Policy to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. In 2011, she led efforts to preserve Georgia's HOPE Scholarship and Pre-K programs. Previously, Hames served as Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's Policy Director and Education Policy Advisor. In that role, she served as executive sponsor for Georgia's Race to the Top team and Specialized in education policy issues from preschool to higher education. In 2010, Hames worked as Chief of Staff to Georgia State School Superintendent Brad Bryant, where she directed, managed and oversaw all department operations and personnel with the goal of increasing efficiency, supporting local school systems and improving student achievement statewide. Hames is a former middle school teacher in the North Carolina public school system.

Patricia Levesque, The Foundation for Excellence in Education

Patricia Levesque is the Chief Executive Officer for the Foundation for Excellence in Education and the Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida's Future. In these roles, she works to improve the quality of education in Florida and across the nation for all students. Both firms are non-profit public policy organizations founded by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Levesque has also served in Florida as Deputy Chief of Staff for education, enterprise solutions for government, minority procurement, and business and professional regulation. Previously, she served six years in the Florida Legislature in the Speakers Office and as staff director over education policy. She is also the managing partner of Meridian Strategies, LLC, a governmental consulting firm in Tallahassee, Florida.

Kent McGuire, Southern Education Foundation

Kent McGuire serves as President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, a public charity headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia that focuses on public policy and educational practice from pre-K to higher education in the southern United States. Prior to joining the Foundation, McGuire was the Dean of the College of Education at Temple University and a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Before working at Temple, he was Senior Vice President at MDRC, where his responsibilities included leadership of the corporation's Education, Children and Youth division. From 1998 to 2001, McGuire served in the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of Education, where he served as the senior officer for the department's research and development agency. As the education program officer for the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts from 1995 to 1998, he managed Pew's K–12 grants portfolio. From 1991 to 1995, McGuire served as education program director for the Eli Lilly Endowment.

Bob Moses, The Algebra Project

Bob Moses is President and Founder of The Algebra Project. A prominent member of the civil rights movement, Moses worked as field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and as director of SNCC's Mississippi Project. A MacArthur Foundation Fellow from 1982-87, he used his fellowship to develop the concept for the Algebra Project, which uses mathematics as an organizing tool for a Quality Public School Education for all students. With support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2002, the AP has been working with cohorts of high school students who previously performed in the lowest quartile on standardized exams. This work has led AP to propose a math high school "benchmark" for bottom quartile students: that they graduate high school on time, in four years, ready to do college math for college credit. To this end AP is exploring collaborations around a concept of "Math Cohort Schools." Moses is co-author of Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project (Beacon, 2001) and co-editor of Quality Education as a Constitutional Right: Creating a Grassroots Movement to Transform Public Schools (Beacon Press, 2010). In 2011-2012, Moses was the Distinguished Visitor for the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, and was a visiting lecturer at NYU School of Law during the fall semester 2012.

Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers

Randi Weingarten is President of the American Federation of Teachers. Elected in 2008, Weingarten represents the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. As an educator and lawyer, she has worked for more than two decades to support innovation in public education and adequate school funding. Weingarten, a former history teacher, has fought to make sure educators have a voice and are given the support and resources they need to succeed in the classroom. With her leadership as AFT president, the union has pursued an agenda that reforms education by holding everyone accountable, revamping how teachers are evaluated, and ensuring that children have access to a broad and deep curriculum as well as wraparound services.

CNN Dialogues

CNN DIALOGUES is a community forum that aims to highlight diverse ideas and perspectives on the most significant issues and events shaping our time. It is a place where we address shared challenges and concerns to foster a dialogue of learning, understanding and hope. Our mission is to come together to analyze and reflect on everything from the arts to the economy, from human rights to health and sexuality. The topics are limitless. We will explore how global events have local impact; and how having a dialogue that bridges our differences will help us collaborate to create solutions and opportunities for a shared future.

CNN DIALOGUES takes place in various venues around Atlanta, the capital of the South and a city of change. In addition to this event, two more dialogues are planned for 2013.

For more information contact the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference: email jwji@emory.edu or call 404.727.2515.