Education summit boasts distinguished list of speakers

Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Louisiana Recovery School District Superintendent John White will be joined by education reformers from across the country at the invite-only 2012 Louisiana Education Summit in Baton Rouge on Monday, Jan. 30. "In light of Governor Jindal's agenda for K-12 education reform, I thought it would be great to bring in a cross section of people from around the country who have been successful at education reform and let them share their stories to get people here excited about reform and show them we can get it done, too," says Rep. Steve Carter, who helped organize the event—which is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel—and is providing the opening and closing remarks. Guest speakers and panelists include: Howard Fuller, director of Marquette University's Institute for Transformation of Learning; Tony Bennett, Indiana superintendent of public instruction; Joel Klein, News Corporation executive vice president; Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution (California); Scott Shirley, executive director of KIPP Delta Public Schools (Arkansas); and Marc Sternberg, deputy chancellor of New York City public schools. See biographies of all the speakers here. Carter says it's not clear yet how many people will be invited to attend the "Leadership for Change!" summit. Supporting groups include the Advance Innovative Education, the Black Alliance for Education Options, Blueprint Louisiana, Council for a Better Louisiana, the Committee of 100, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, Louisiana Federation of Children, and Teach For America. —Steve Sanoski