Reagan Foundation Launches Bipartisan Education Summit

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute today announced it will host its inaugural Reagan Institute Summit on Education (RISE) in Washington, DC, from April 11-12, 2018.

The bipartisan conference of leaders in education, policy, business and technology marks the 35^th anniversary of the 1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education report "A Nation at Risk" and will explore the future of education in the U.S.

"President Reagan believed in the power of an educated citizenry and our duty to pursue the highest educational standard for the next generation of leaders," said Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. "He also believed in working across the aisle to get things done. With that perspective and vision of excellence in education, we are bringing leaders of diverse viewpoints to the table to discuss an issue that is at the heart of our nation's future."

Through various panel and plenary sessions, RISE 2018 will explore a wide range of education policy issues, including lessons learned from "A Nation at Risk," the future of higher education, the role of states in pursuing educational excellence, innovation in the classroom and approaches to constructing bipartisan legislation in support of educational improvement. Session topics will explore:

• The Learning Society
• Three and a Half Decades of Progress
• What Does the Future of Education Look Like? What are the New Basics?
• Every Student Succeeds Act
• The Role of States in Education Excellence
• Next Generation College
• Case Studies on Innovation
• The Purpose of Education

The day of discussion will begin with a keynote panel on the cross-sector responsibility of education, and the event's closing session will feature a panel of former secretaries of education sharing their diverse experiences.

RISE 2018 is convened by an honorary steering committee chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and former U.S. Secretary of Education.  Members of the steering committee include:

• The Honorable Jeb Bush – Chairman of ExcelinEd, Former Governor of Florida
• The Honorable Arne Duncan – Former Secretary of Education
• The Honorable Margaret Spellings – President of University of North Carolina, Former Secretary of Education
• The Honorable John B. King, Jr. – CEO of Education Trust, former Secretary of Education
• Congresswoman Virginia Foxx – US House of Representatives, North Carolina
• Senator Patty Murray, US Senate, Washington
• The Honorable Richard Riley – Former Secretary of Education
• The Honorable John Kline – Former Congressman and Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce
• The Honorable George Miller III - Former Congressman and Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce
• Congressman Bobby Scott, US House of Representatives, Virginia
• The Honorable Howard P. "Buck" McKeon –Former Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce
• The Honorable Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. – Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute
• The Honorable Michael P. Castine – Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute Trustee
• Mr. Ben C. Sutton, Jr. – Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute Trustee

"Bill Clinton, Dick Riley, Bob Graham and I all were governors when President Reagan's Education Secretary Ted Bell issued 'A Nation at Risk,' challenging states to set higher standards and improve school performance," Alexander said. "Inspired by that leadership, we governors set about working together in our states to do just that—and the work continues today as we work to deliver the promise of the Every Student Succeeds Act."

RISE 2018 will be open to registered media. For more information, visit www.reaganfoundation.org/RISE.

About the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is the nonprofit organization created by President Reagan himself and specifically charged by him with continuing his legacy and sharing his principles - individual liberty, economic opportunity, global democracy and national pride. The Foundation is a non-partisan organization which sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Presidential Learning Center, The Air Force One Pavilion and the award-winning Discovery Center, as well as the Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C.  

Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." The RISE summit builds on the success of the non-partisan Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF), which, for the past five years, has brought together luminaries from across the political spectrum to examine the state of National Defense. With RISE, we plan to leverage our role as a convener to explore the future of American education.  

www.reaganfoundation.org

SOURCE Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute