Public Support Grows for Higher Teacher Pay and Expanded School Choice

Friday, September 13, 2019, 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Hoover Institution in Washington, The Johnson Center
1399 New York Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005

On Tuesday, August 20, Education Next released our 13th annual survey of American public opinion on education policy. This year’s poll updates trend data to reveal the public’s latest thinking on school choice, teacher pay, school spending, accountability, and more. Questions featured in this year’s poll also explore opinion on other topical policy issues, such as school security, charter schools, and higher education, including tuition-free college.

Coinciding with this special release, Education Next hosted an event in Washington, D.C., to discuss the findings on key issues in more depth.

Follow the event discussion on Twitter with @EducationNext using the hashtag #ENpoll.

11:45 AM: Lunch available

12:00 PM: Welcome
• Martin R. West, Harvard Graduate School of Education

12:05 PM: Presentation of poll results
• Paul E. Peterson, Harvard University; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Download the presentation slides

12:25 PM: Panel discussion

Moderator: Martin R. West, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Elizabeth Green, Chalkbeat
• Nina Rees, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
• Paula White, Educators for Excellence

1:30 PM: Adjourn

Panelists

	Paul E. Peterson Paul Peterson is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He directs the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance, is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and is senior editor of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, he is an author or editor of over 30 books, four of which have been identified as the best work in its field by the American Political Science Association. His book Saving Schools documents the forces that undermined the effectiveness of a once dynamic education system, and Endangering Prosperity analyzes the large economic costs of a stagnant K-12 education system.
	@Paul_E_Peterson

	Martin R. West Martin West is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He is deputy director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and editor-in-chief of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research on education policy. West studies the politics of K-12 education in the United States and how education policies affect student learning and non-cognitive development. His current projects include studies of public opinion on education policy, the effects of charter school attendance on cognitive and non-cognitive skills, data use in schools, and the influence of relative pay on teacher quality. He previously taught at Brown University and was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he is now a nonresident senior fellow.
	@ProfMartyWest

	Elizabeth Green Elizabeth Green is co-founder and CEO of Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to improving educational equity. Since launching in 2014, Chalkbeat’s reporting has spurred changes in education funding, legislation, policy, and practice and is regularly cited or republished in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Vox, and more. Elizabeth is also the cofounder and board chair of the American Journalism Project, the first venture philanthropy firm dedicated to local news. Her book Building a Better Teacher was a New York Times bestseller and notable book of 2014. She has also written about education issues for The New York Times Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and other publications. Elizabeth has been a Spencer Fellow in education journalism at Columbia University and an Abe Journalism Fellow studying education in Japan.
	@elizwgreen

	Nina Rees Nina Rees is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. Rees has over 20 years of experience in Washington, D.C., most recently as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives for Knowledge Universe, a leading global education company with investments in early childhood education, before- and after-school programs and online instruction. Prior to her tenure at KU, she served as the first Deputy Under Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. Before moving to the Education Department, Rees served as Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy to the Vice President at the White House. Nina is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Rees has appeared on various news outlets including Bloomberg, CNBC, C-SPAN and PBS’s NewsHour.
	@Ninacharters

	Paula White Paula White’s work as the executive director of E4E’s flagship chapter builds on a career in education that began when she spent nine years in Atlanta Public Schools teaching children living in poverty, in the face of many systemic challenges. She holds a bachelor’s degree in child development from Spelman College, and a master’s degree in education from Columbia University. She has worked with parents, teachers, and legislators to advance policies on teacher diversity and other factors related to student success. She was the New Jersey Department of Education’s chief turnaround officer, successfully leading the state’s efforts to improve its lowest-achieving schools. She also founded a public charter school, coached principals, and led an initiative that brought trauma-informed practices to public schools in New York City.
	@Ed4Excellence