Foundation for Excellence in Education

Infobox Institute
name= Foundation for Excellence in Education


caption= Logo of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
established=2007
chairman= Governor John Ellis "Jeb" Bush
head_label=Executive Director
head= Patricia Levesque
faculty=
staff= 7
budget=
endowment =
debt=
location= Tallahassee, FL
address= P.O. Box 10691
website= [http://www.excelined.org/ www.excelined.org]

The Foundation for Excellence in Education is a education think tank headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida in the United States. It is a member of the State Policy Network.

Their views are that "providing a high quality education to all students ensures our students enter the world with the skills to compete and succeed in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. An educated workforce will attract investors to create high-wage jobs and produce prosperity."

Mission

The Institute's mission is to find what "motivates students to exceed expectations,what are the secrets to successful teaching,and to replicate academic achievement across classrooms, schools and school districts, regardless of their unique challenges."

The Institute achieves its mission through conferences and seminars, and a variety of outreach programs.

Since its inception in 2007, the Institute has remained independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan. It makes no attempt to aid or hinder the passage of legislation, nor does it accept government funds or respond to special pleadings from any sector.

History

The Foundation was founded in Tallahassee, Florida in 2007 by Governor Jeb Bush, who retired due to term limits. Gov. Bush has had an interest in education reform before he ran for Goverenor, starting with the predecessor organization Foundation for Florida's Future as well as co-founding the first charter school in the State of Florida: Liberty City Charter School, a grades K-6 elementary school. [ [http://www.dadeschools.net/schools/liberty_charter.htm Liberty City Charter School ] ] The school is situated in Liberty City, a Miami neighborhood that was the site, in 1980, of the first major race riot since the Civil Rights era. [ [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/895/Riot_erupts_in_Liberty_City African American Registry: Riot erupts in Liberty City! ] ] The school's co-founder, working alongside Bush, was T. Williard Fair, a well-known local black activist and head of the Greater Miami Urban League. The Liberty City Charter School still operates today as a charter school, earning an "A" grade for the 2007-2008 school year.

Principles

It was out of these works as well as the initiatives taken by Jeb while Governor that led him to expand the battle for education reform into a nation wide effort, culminating in the first annual [http://www.excelined.org/Program/ViewPage.aspx?pr=4&pc=21 "Excellence in Action: A National Summit on Education Reform"] [ cite web|url=http://www.excelined.org/Program/ViewPage.aspx?pr=4&pc=21
title=Cato on "Excellence in Action: A National Summit on Education Reform"
accessdate=2008-08-23
work=Foundation for Excellence in Education
publisher=Foundation for Excellence in Education] in partnership with the James Madison Institute.

FEE positions on current political issues

Education Reform

Whether the issue is curriculum, the school attended, the quality of the faculty, or academic standards and accountability, the Institute believes that parents should have the freedom to make decisions in the best interests of their children.

Funding

The Foundation for Excellence in Education is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization under U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The Institute performs no contract research and does not accept government funding. For revenue, the Institute is largely dependent on private contributions.

Corporate support

Like many non profits, FEE receives support from a variety of corporations, but corporations are a relatively minor source of support for the Institute.

In the news

taff & Board of Directors

taff

*Patricia Levesque, Executive Director, served as Governor Jeb Bush’s deputy chief of staff for education, enterprise solutions for government, minority procurement, and business and professional regulation.
*Deirdre Finn, Deputy Executive Director served as Governor Jeb Bush’s deputy chief of staff for speechwriting and a policy portfolio that included emergency management, environment, growth management and transportation.
*Tracey Van Hook, Development Director served as Development Director and Events Director for the not-for-profit Volunteer Florida Foundation.
*Jan Russo, Director of Teacher Outreach.
*Will Woodley, Program Specialist & Information Technology.
*Lisa Kammel Raguso,Program Director, Arts for Life! Scholarship.
*Dani Su Armstrong, Director of Cool

Board of Directors

As of June 2008:

*Governor Jeb Bush, Chairman, the 43rd Governor of Florida, from 1999 through 2007, Businessman and Civic Leader, Miami
*Brian Yablonski, Secretary, Vice President of Public Affairs, St. Joe Company, Jacksonville
*Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, Treasurer,President of the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute, Fort Lauderdale

References

External links

* [http://www.excelined.org/ Foundation for Excellence in Education's official website]
* [http://www.excelined.org/Program/ViewPage.aspx?pr=4 Excellence in Action Education Summit Home Page]
* [http://www.jamesmadison.org/ The James Madison Institute]
* [http://www.spn.org/ State Policy Network]