Education As a Civil Right and Economic Driver: Empowering Individuals and Communities for the 21st Century and Beyond

Date: April 8, 2010 - April 9, 2010

Location:
Michael D. Rose Theatre
The University of Memphis
470 University Street
Memphis, TN 38152

Description:

John Morton, managing director of the Pew Economic Policy Group will be speaking at the conference Education As a Civil Right and Economic Driver: Empowering Individuals and Communities for the 21st Century and Beyond.

The events are free and open to the public. You can find more information about this event by visiting the Benjamin L. Hooks Web site.

The conference schedule is as follows:

April 8, 2010

• 10:00 Opening remarks by Daphene R. McFerren, Director, Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, University of Memphis
  
  Creating Smarter Laws: How the Child Impact Statement Reporting System is Mainstreaming Child Well-Being into Policies and Practices within Shelby County Government
  Moderator: Marian C. Levy, University of Memphis
  
  Julie Coffey, Deputy Administrator, Office of Early Childhood and Youth, Shelby County Government, Memphis, TN
  
  
• 11:00 The Critical Role of Science Education in Maintaining US Competitiveness
  Moderator: Andy M. Meyers, University of Memphis
  
  Bruce Fuchs, Director, Office of Science Education, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC 
  
  
• 12:00 Lunch
  
  
• 1:30 2 Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution
  A film by True South Studios
  
  
• 2:30 Café Discussion of 2 Million Minutes
  Moderators:
  Beverly E. Cross, University of Memphis
  David Williams, Leadership Memphis
  
  
• 3:30 “May It Please the Court:” Legal Challenges and Remedies to Address Deficiencies in Public Education
  Moderator: Daniel Kiel, University of Memphis
  
  How an Education Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Would Improve Public Education
  Lynn Huntley, President, Southern Education Foundation, Atlanta, GA
  
  Education as a Fundamental Civil Right
  Gary Williams, Professor of Law and Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Chair in Civil Rights, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA
  
  Leveling Localism and Racial Inequality in Education Through the No Child Left Behind Public Choice Provision
  Erica K. Woods, Clinical Fellow, Civil Advocacy Law, Univ. of Baltimore Law School, Baltimore, MD
  
  
• 5:30 Public Reception
  
  
• 6:00 Plenary Address
  Moderator: Ralph Faudree, Provost, University of Memphis
  
  Higher Education: Meeting the Needs of the 21st Century
  Richard D. Legon, President, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), Washington, DC

April 9, 2010

• 10:30 Economic Mobility and the Power of Postsecondary Education
  Moderator: Jonathan Judaken, University of Memphis
  
  John Morton, Managing Director, Pew Economic Policy Group,Washington, DC
  
  
• 11:30 Robbing the Needy to Pay the Elite: Charter Schools and the Descending Opportunities of the American Masses
  Moderator: Cardell Orrin, Hooks Institute Advisory Board Member 
  
  Tonya Thames-Taylor, Associate Professor, West Chester Univ. of Pennsylvania, West Chester, PA
  
  
• 12:15 Lunch
  
  
• 1:45 Public, Charter, and Private Schools: Strategies, Initiatives, and Action to Create the Perfect Storm for Educational Reform in Memphis
  Moderator: Desi Franklin, Hooks Institute Advisory Board Member
  
  Victoria Van Cleef, Vice President of Staffing Initiatives, The New Teacher Project, Memphis, TN
  Jamal McCall, Executive Director, Knowledge Is Power Program
  T. Durant Fleming, Head of School,Collegiate School of Memphis
  David Williams, Executive Director,Leadership Memphis
  John Barker, Executive Director, Research, Evaluation & Assessment, Memphis City Schools
  
  
• 4:15 How Can we Leave No Child Behind?  Lessons Learned from Building Cradle to Career Learning System
  Moderator: Nancy Coffee, Leadership Academy, Memphis, TN
  
  Jeff Edmondson, Executive Director, Strive, Cincinnati, Ohio
  
  
• 5:15 Public Reception
  
  
• 6:00 Keynote Address
  Moderator: Daphene, R. McFerren, director, Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change
  
  Raggedy Schools: Education’s Untold Truth
  Steve Perry, Founder, Capital Preparatory Magnet School, Hartford, CT
  Contributor Essence®
  Featured on CNN’s Black in America 2