John Boehner, Katherine Bradley, Kevin Chavous, John Fisher, Steve Klinsky, John Legend, Eva Moskowitz and Brian Williams to Be Honored for Achievements in Education Reform

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- John Boehner, Katherine Bradley, Kevin Chavous, John Fisher, Steve Klinsky, John Legend, Eva Moskowitz and Brian Williams will be honored with the distinguished EdReformie award, announced today by The Center for Education Reform (CER). These honorees will be celebrated on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, at the W Washington D.C. Hotel as part of CER's 18th anniversary gala, The EdReformies – Rockin' Reform Revue.

"This group of accomplished honorees are as diverse as they are influential in bringing about much-needed change to America's schools," said Jeanne Allen, president of CER. "Collectively their unwavering support of expanding educational opportunities, accountability, teacher programs that work and parental choice is commendable. Individually their contributions to improving education reform through philanthropy, advocacy, media, entertainment and education are remarkable."

Every few years the Center for Education Reform celebrates distinguished leaders for their break through contributions to creating and expanding quality educational opportunities for children. The collective accomplishments of these six individuals span almost all states and represent several million new opportunities for children. The EdReformies will be awarded to:

• Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, a politician who has never let political pressure get in the way of ensuring children access to a better education.
• As the nation's most well-respected and influential journalist, Brian Williams has thrust the need for education reform into the homes and minds of millions of Americans.
• Despite being one of the world's most talented and popular musicians, John Legend is publically engaged in school reform, which he says is the "civil rights issue of our time."
• For over two decades, Katherine Brittain Bradley has driven reform by strategically launching efforts that focus on community engagement and volunteerism. She has created and recruited top-flight organizations to the nation's capital and opened her home and heart to bolster education reform nationally.
• As a policymaker, parent, author and attorney, Kevin P. Chavous has spent his career securing the adoption of school reforms that serve America's children, through a passion and commitment and new alliances that prove that anything is possible when you put children first.  
• Business leader John Fisher is committed to ensuring quality educational opportunities for children most in need. As chairman of KIPP and through his board leadership in numerous other national organizations that create new supplies of schools and human capital, John's passion has ignited thousands more to be intensively involved.
• Steve Klinsky, founder and CEO of New Mountain Capital, started highly successful organizations to provide safe, nurturing and academically excellent opportunities for low-income children in some of the Big Apple's most depressed neighborhoods and beyond.
• As New York City Councilwoman, Eva Moskowitz challenged the status quo to show results, or move out of the way. She went on to lead one of the nation's most successful charter networks, Success Charter Network, and in so doing, has continued to challenge the establishment and raised the public's awareness about the problems facing public education.

The Center for Education Reform (CER) is the pioneer and leading voice for lasting substantive and structural change in the United States. CER has, since 1993, generated and shared innovative and actionable ideas and information, stimulated major policy changes, supported and enabled grassroots activism and increased media coverage on behalf of the movement to genuinely reform and improve educational options and performance in the U.S. We're proud to say that today more than 2 million children are enjoying the freedom to choose quality schooling options that were not available just 18 short years ago.

SOURCE Center for Education Reform