Allegheny Alumnus To Talk about “The High Stakes of National Education Policy”

Oct. 23, 2012 – Andre Perry will speak on “The High Stakes of National Education Policy” at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30, in the Tillotson Room of the Tippie Alumni Center at Allegheny College. He will be available after his talk to sign his new book, “The Garden Path: The Miseducation of the City.”

The public is invited to this event in the college’s Year of Transforming Education, an exploration of the inequalities inherent in American education, the future of the U.S. public education system and the value of liberal arts education.

Perry is the associate director for educational initiatives for Loyola Institute for Quality and Equity in Education, which assesses the success of post-Katrina education reforms and also creates enrichment opportunities for students in the metropolitan New Orleans area. Earlier he served as the CEO of the Capital One-University of New Orleans Charter Network, which comprised four charter schools in New Orleans.

A native of Pittsburgh and a 1993 graduate of Allegheny College, Perry earned his Ph.D. in education policy and leadership, with an emphasis in higher education, from the University of Maryland, College Park. His research and teaching interests are college access and retention, charter schools and educational rights of immigrants.

Perry has been featured on National Public Radio, the New Republic and CNN, in addition to writing a weekly newspaper column in the Louisiana Weekly.

He received St. Charles Avenue Magazine’s 2008 Unsung Hero of the Year Award and was also selected by New Orleans Magazine as a “Person to Watch.” He was featured in the documentary “Close Ties: Tying on a New Tradition,” which features his and Wilbert “Chill” Wilson’s efforts to prevent criminal activity among at-risk youth.

Perry’s talk at Allegheny, which is co-sponsored by the Center for Political Participation, is part of the “Passport Challenge,” which encourages participation at selected Year of Transforming Education events and enables participants to be eligible to win prizes.

More information on the Year of Transforming Education and the Passport Challenge can be found at www.allegheny.edu/yearof or on Facebook: search for Transforming Education Allegheny College.