Speaker biographies

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and director of education policy studies at AEI and executive editor of Education Next. His many books include When Research Matters, No Remedy Left Behind, Tough Love for Schools, Common Sense School Reform, and Spinning Wheels. His work has appeared in both popular and scholarly outlets including Social Science Quarterly, American Politics Quarterly, Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, the Washington Post, and National Review. Hess serves on the review board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, as a research associate with the Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance, and as a member of the research advisory board for the National Center for Educational Accountability. He is a former high school social studies teacher and professor at the University of Virginia.

Joel I. Klein became New York City schools chancellor in July 2002 after serving in the highest levels of government and business. As chancellor, Klein oversees more than 1,450 schools, 1.1 million students, 136,000 employees, and a $15 billion operating budget. Before being appointed to the first chancellorship of the newly reorganized Department of Education, Klein was chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, Inc. and chief U.S. liaison officer to Bertelsmann AG. He has served as assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division and deputy counsel to President Bill Clinton. Klein began his career as a law clerk, later working at a public interest law firm, and as a partner at Rogovin, Stern & Huge. He has served as visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and has published several articles in scholarly and popular journals.

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