AFT’s QuEST Conference Features Education, Political and Entertainment Figures

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – The American Federation of Teachers’ QuEST conference will feature provocative discussions on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an address by AFT President Edward J. McElroy, a discussion with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, as well as an event reuniting famous actors and writers with the public school teachers who made a difference in their lives, and a pre-broadcast screening of the PBS documentary, The Fire Next Time.

About 2,000 teachers from across the country are expected to attend QuEST, which will be held July 7-10 at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C.  In addition to the general plenary sessions, there will be more than 60 workshops on numerous topics facing teachers, students and parents, all of which are open to press. 

One of QuEST’s goals is to share innovative ideas and programs that could be replicated in other school districts.  As a unique part of this, “teams” of teachers, superintendents and school board officials from more than a dozen cities will be attending QuEST to explore the ideas together.  Cities where the teams are from include:  Hartford, Conn.; Watsonville, Calif. (south of San Francisco); Birmingham, Ala.; Hawaiian Gardens, Calif. (near Los Angeles); Cleveland, Ohio; Plattsburgh, N.Y.; Port Washington, N.Y.; Leesburg, Fla.; Belleville, Ill. (east of St. Louis) and Perth Amboy, N.J.

Tentative Highlights

Thursday, July 7

1 p.m.        Keynote speech by AFT President Edward J. McElroy 
2:30 p.m., or at conclusion of speech – Press availability with President McElroy
2:30 p.m.  Workshops
4:15 p.m.  Address by Gov. Thomas Vilsack (D-Iowa)
7:30 p.m.  2005 Spotlight Awards for Teachers Who Made a Difference
  

         
The session, co-sponsored by The Creative Coalition, features:

Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. (moderator), writer/producer, The West Wing, & TV political commentator, with his daughter’s teacher from Los Angeles

Joe Pantoliano, actor/co-president, The Creative Coalition, with his former Bergen, N.J., teacher

Antwone Fisher, writer/actor, with his former Cleveland teacher

Steve Buscemi, actor, with his former Valley Stream, N.Y., teacher

Phylicia Rashad, actress, with her former Houston teacher

Friday, July 8

9 a.m.         Workshops
11 a.m.       U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
11:45 a.m.  25th anniversary commemoration of Solidarity strike
12:45 p.m.  Screening of A Fire Next Time, to be aired July 12 on PBS.  It’s the story of       
                   a small Montana town polarized by a divisive local issue and citizens fighting to
                   reclaim and reunite their community. 

Saturday, July 9

9 a.m.         Jack Jennings, Center on National Education Policy, on the 40th anniversary of
                   the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, now known as the NCLB Act
10:30 a.m. Workshops

Sunday, July 10

11 a.m.     Salome Thomas-El, former Philadelphia teacher and author of I Choose to Stay,
                 soon to be a Disney movie titled, I Choose to Stay -- A Black Teacher Refuses to
                 Desert the Inner City.

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