Agenda

Is Law Undermining Public Education?
November 5, 2003
8:45am--2:00pm
Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

Public education is being undermined by a growing legal overlay -- a web of "rights" and legal mandates so complex that it is difficult to define at times. It is hard to find a teacher or principal whose judgment has not been undermined by legal claims or legal process. The moral authority of public schools -- so important to children's ability to learn -- has been replaced by disparate legal authorities and due process. Teachers, parents and students are fleeing the public schools in search of schools that work. Despite decades of reform efforts, public schools are still failing. Why?

Please join Common Good and the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies for a conference addressing this important question. Panel 1 will discuss the proliferation of law in public education and its impact on the quality of our schools. Panel 2 will discuss possible solutions for allowing the public schools to compete with less regulated alternatives.

9:00	Welcome
9:10 11:15 1:00	Speaker:   Panel 1: Moderator: Panelists: Panel 2: Moderator: Panelists: Luncheon Closing:	Philip K. Howard, Founder and Chair, Common Good The Effects of Law on Public Education Tom Loveless, Director, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution Richard Arum, Associate Professor of Sociology, New York University Jane Hannaway, Director, Education Policy Center, Urban Institute David Schoenbrod, Professor of Law, New York Law School; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute Letting Public Schools Achieve Frederick M. Hess, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Executive Director, Education Next Dan Corley, Head of School, Community Preparatory School William Ouchi, Professor, John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA Alan D. Bersin, Superintendent of Public Education, San Diego City Schools Keynote Speakers: Eugene W. Hickok, United States Under Secretary of Education Deborah Wadsworth, Senior Advisor, Public Agenda Chester E. Finn, Jr., Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University & President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
2:00	Adjournment

RSVP:  Please contact Shannon Leahy at [email protected] and include both your name and affiliation.