A Nation At Risk No More — By Any Means Necessary
CER Media Advisory
Washington, D.C.
April 24, 2013
On Wednesday Apr. 24, Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, issued a multi-page manifesto in which she declared the US still faces “educational malaise” 30 years after the release of A Nation at Risk that paved the way for educational reform.
Allen also recalled the “pioneers” who after A Nation at Risk enacted the first voucher programs and charter laws to overcome the unionized and bureaucratic “blob” that for so long has favored the status quo.
A Nation at Risk information and resources can be found here.
Allen is available for comment on this issue. Please call 301-986-8088 or email [email protected].
Jeanne Allen is the Founder and President of The Center for Eduction Reform, the nation’s leading advocate for substantive and structural education reforms.
“After 15 years the problems were still prevalent. Today, after 30 years, we still face educational malaise that constitutes a national security threat,” Allen said in a manifesto entitled “A Nation at Risk No More — By Any Means Necessary.”
“One would expect that the way to solve that would be to muster the smartest people in one room, even if the room overflowed to a town, even if the town needed to overflow to a community, even if the community had to overflow over state lines. But sadly, many organizations find it more profitable to boast selectively than recognize the contributions of those who came before, or those who do the work quietly on the sidelines still.”
“Indeed this week — the 30th anniversary of A Nation at Risk— should have produced a revolution of innovation and refocus on what has worked, an internal assessment of what it will take to go from 20 to 300 million people with real, actionable reform, and who’s standing in the way — on all sides. Instead, we have a few forums, and blogs, and most will go about their business as if everything is moving along swimmingly.”
