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20th Anniversary Gala Huge Success

Note from CER Founder & President

(excerpts from the Keynote Address)
When I started CER it was with a singular purpose – “to expand access to and restore educational excellence in our Nation’s schools.” To do that I needed a plan, some resources, people and partners… It was a new age for education reform and we found lots of accomplices willing and ready to go, and buoyed with a sense of clear urgency, commitment and passion…

And now here we are 20 years later. The work has not been easy. Success is never easy. But it’s the most rewarding thing I will have ever done. Days became weeks, which became years. Plans and ideas became proposals and strategies…

Every generation has its talents and dreams, its unique selling points, vantage points and talking points. This generation is leading our best schools, our foundations, our research organizations – and it will be better at it than mine. They are more relentless in mission and yet more cooperative; they are patient – yet resolute. They are focused – but fun…

Don’t get me wrong – and let me just be clear – this next generation – you are ready, but we helped you get here. We made it cool to come to the party. We took the lumps, and the arrows. (We) built the foundation of reform and made it possible for others to create and build new organizations and achieve their own goals more quickly…

The foundation of reform was created by people and stories some of you may have never known. That is the purpose and reason for our launching Education Reform University, because history is the best teacher and it’s a handy guide to avoiding repetitive failure, ensuring repetitive success… History is still unfolding and it will continue to be written for years to come. We must know it, understand it and nurture it, or frankly, get the hell out of the room.

It is time to accelerate the pace of reform and use history as our guide.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Allen