State Leaders Discuss Social Mobility Issues in Chicago
This June, over 300 state and local elected officials from 45 states gathered in Chicago for the DLC’s annual National Conversation. The most dynamic portion of the weekend-long event centered on the breakout sessions, which allowed elected officials to discuss and share ideas about the most pressing issues facing our country and party.
Throughout the month of August, the DLC will be releasing audio from the breakouts. I will post the sessions that are relevant to social mobility and poverty reduction. Today, I link to two breakouts, one about social mobility and one about public school choice. Below you will find descriptions of the sessions including speakers and links to the audio.
Social Mobility: Lifting all Americans out of Poverty and Hunger
This session featured Joel Berg, former USDA Coordinator of Community Food Security and author of the upcoming book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?; José Cerda, vice president of communication and public policy at the Illinois Facilities Fund; Ralph Gildehaus, director of the Ohio Benefit Bank in Gov. Ted Strickland’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; and Katie Campbell, policy analyst at the Progressive Policy Institute. The discussion focused on how state and local leaders can connect low-income Americans to all of the public benefits for which they qualify, and how a new poverty discussion coupled with smart policies can create a system of social mobility for all Americans.
Click here to listen and here to download.
How Public School Choice is Transforming America’s Public Schools
This breakout featured Josh Edelman, executive officer of Chicago’s Office of New Schools; and Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute and member of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board. Panelists and attendees discussed how these new schools and governance structures are creating hope for dysfunctional inner city school districts.
Posted in PPI, Work and Personal Responsibility