Forum on Education

October 6, 2004


Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation, hosted a Carnegie Forum on Education, which, in anticipation of the presidential election, focused on the education platforms of the Democratic and Republican contenders. (The Corporation held a similar forum before the 2000 Bush-Gore election.) Surrogates for George W. Bush and John Kerry joined in a robust debate of the No Child Left Behind Act, urban school reform, access to college, teacher education, Pell grants, literacy and other education issues critical to improving America's schools.

Expressing the views of the Bush-Cheney campaign was Sandy Kress, widely acknowledged as the architect of No Child Left Behind, President Bush's major education initiative. A partner in the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld of Austin, and Dallas, Kress continues to advise the White House on education issues. Previously, he played a pivotal role as president of the board of trustees of the Dallas Public Schools and also served under appointment by then-Governor Bush on the Education Commission of the States.

Laying out the Kerry-Edwards platform was Jon Schnur, a seven-year veteran of the Clinton administration who, during his tenure, served as policy advisor on K-12 education and White House Associate Director for Educational Policy. Schnur is founder and Chief Executive Officer of New Leaders for New Schools, a nonprofit organization focused on attracting and preparing principals for America's urban public schools. John Merrow, Executive Producer and host of The Merrow Report, an award-winning series of PBS programs about critical education issues, served as moderator.

In the tradition of Carnegie Forums, questions and comments from the audience—a distinguished group of philanthropy, academic and foundation leaders, education scholars and advocates, policy advisors and journalists—were a central part of the event.

The Carnegie Forum on Education is the last in a series of three forums focused on critical issues facing the country in the 2004 election year. The previous two dealt with income inequality and foreign policy.