FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	Date: June 23, 2004
	Contact: Sherry Freeland Walker
	e-Mail: swalker@ecs.org
	FAX: 303.296.8332
	ECS Web Site: http://www.ecs.org

		Governor Warner To Lead National Forum on Education Policy DENVER – Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner will preside over and participate in several sessions at The 2004 National Forum on Education Policy, to be held July 13-16, in Orlando, Florida. The forum is sponsored by the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which Warner has chaired for the past 18 months. During Warner’s ECS chairmanship, he has led ECS' efforts to draw policymakers' attention to the needs of "hard-to-staff" schools -- those that have a hard time finding and retaining adequately trained teachers who are effective with their student populations. Generally, such schools have a high percentage of relatively new teachers because more experienced teachers, with greater seniority, tend to go elsewhere. At a special Chairman’s Breakfast on Thursday, July 15, 8:15-9:45 a.m., Warner will talk about the need for policymakers and educators to rethink how teachers are recruited, trained, assigned and rewarded. “There's nothing that will be more important in closing the achievement gap, nothing that will be more important in meeting the goal of having a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by the year 2006,” Warner said. “Current practices undermine the efforts of visionary educators who believe children in poor communities can learn and achieve.” Warner also will take part in several other sessions. In a special governors’ panel on Wednesday, July 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Mark Warner, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Bill Richardson of New Mexico, and former Governor and ECS Chairman Jim Geringer of Wyoming will share their experiences and discuss the challenges of and benefits of looking at postsecondary education from a state perspective rather than institutional one. In addition, Warner will be a panelist in a Thursday, July 15, session 10:15-11:45 a.m., on Paying for Standards-based Reform: Are State Tax Structures Up to the Job? Huckabee will take over the ECS chairmanship during the National Forum and serve until July 2006. To see the full National Forum agenda or register for the meeting, visit the Newsroom at http://www.ecs.org/NationalForum2004. For more information, contact Sherry Freeland Walker, ECS communications director, at 303.299.3626 or swalker@ecs.org. ### The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a national, nonprofit organization that helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. A nonpartisan organization, ECS was formed in 1965 and is located in Denver, Colorado.
Helping State Leaders Shape Education Policy