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Mark Warner, High School Reform Advocate, to Keynote Democratic Convention

By Michele McNeil — August 13, 2008 1 min read
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Although Barack Obama’s campaign manager lauds the former Virginia governor for his work on the economy, edutypes will remember Mark Warner for his work on high school reform. Warner, who was governor from 2002-06, will deliver the keynote on Tuesday night of the convention. Campaign K-12 will be there to cover it.

As the National Governors Association chairman from 2004-05, Warner made redesigning the American high school a priority for this group—traveling the country to participate in town hall meetings on the subject to jumpstart a national dialogue. In November 2004, he penned this commentary for EdWeek, writing:

We must make high school more rigorous and relevant to the high-skills work students will have to do. We now know that the skills required for most jobs match the skills required for college entry. Now is the time to make sure every high school student graduates college-ready.

This is a conversation that’s still ongoing, and perhaps he’ll use his convention speech to help jumpstart more debate about education in this presidential campaign.

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