The Education Commission of the States to Honor Ted Kolderie with the 2011 Conant Award

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Jun 28, 2011, 12:07 ET

DENVER, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ted Kolderie is the recipient of this year's Education Commission of the States (ECS) James Bryant Conant Award for his decades of work in developing and spreading the idea of a "chartered" sector in public education. ECS Chair and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will present the award at the ECS National Forum on Education Policy in Denver on July 7.

This award, named for former Harvard University president and co-founder of ECS, James Bryant Conant, is one of the most prestigious in the national education community. The honor recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to American education. Kolderie joins the esteemed list of past recipients including Ron Wolk, Claiborne Pell, Theodore Sizer and Marian Wright Edelman, along with former Governors Gaston Caperton, Roy Romer, Richard Riley and James Hunt Jr.

A short paper Kolderie wrote in 1990, "The States Will Have To Withdraw the Exclusive," though not the first publication about chartering, is regarded by many as the founding document of the contemporary charter movement. Since then he has worked with legislators and citizens on the design and improvement of charter legislation in more than 25 states including California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

"Ted Kolderie was and is a critical player in the charter school reform movement. For over thirty years he has shared his knowledge and innovative ideas with legislators and education leaders around the country to help them think about chartering as a strategy for system change," said ECS President Roger Sampson.

Kolderie is co-founder of Education/Evolving, a nonpartisan policy group working in Minnesota and nationally on strategies for change and improvement in K-12 education.

His work on education policy and innovation began in the early 1980s. In Minnesota, in 1982, he was a member of Governor Quie's task force on education policy, and from 1985 to 1989 he was a member of Governor Perpich's education "Discussion Group." He worked with the Citizens League committee that in late 1988 proposed "chartered schools" for Minnesota. He and others then worked with the bill's author, State Senator Ember Reichgott-Junge, other legislators and Minnesota Commissioner Tom Nelson on the design and implementation of the country's first charter school law in 1991. Kolderie began his career as a reporter and editorial writer with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. He later served as executive director of the Citizens League in the Twin Cities area and senior fellow at the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

He earned a B.A. from Carleton College and a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. In 2005, he published, "Creating the Capacity for Change: How and Why Governors and Legislatures Are Opening a New- Schools Sector in Public Education."

ECS is the only nationwide, nonpartisan interstate compact devoted to education. Since 1965, ECS has helped governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. A nonprofit organization, ECS is located in Denver, Colorado.

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ECS Web Site: www.ecs.org

SOURCE Education Commission of the States