Name: Joel I. Klein

Being considered for: Education secretary

Would bring to the job: Six years as chancellor of the New York City public school system, the nation's largest. An increasingly prominent national presence, thanks to forming, with the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Education Equality Project, a coalition seeking to transform public education.

Is linked to Mr. Obama by: Friends and associates, including Caroline Kennedy, a college roommate and close friend of Mr. Klein's wife, Nicole K. Seligman. One of Mr. Obama's education advisers, Jon Schnur, is the chief executive of New Leaders for New Schools, a program based in New York that has hired many of Mr. Klein's former staff members. Mr. Klein knows John D. Podesta, who is leading the Obama transition team, from his Washington days.

In his own words: "Are we making good on the moral vision -- and the clear social obligation -- set forth in the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education when we tolerate poorly performing public schools?" (From remarks at a forum in January 2004.)

Used to work as: A lawyer in Washington for nearly three decades, and from 1997 to 2001 as the assistant attorney general in charge of antitrust enforcement at the Justice Department, where he led the prosecution of Microsoft. He spent two years as deputy White House counsel during the Clinton administration and was chairman and chief executive of Bertelsmann Inc.

Carries as baggage: Randi Weingarten, the powerful president of the New York City teachers' union who is also the president of the national American Federation of Teachers, has had an acrimonious relationship with Mr. Klein.

Résumé includes: Born Oct. 25, 1946, in New York City ... graduated from Columbia University, but his dearest alma mater is William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens ... taught math to sixth graders in Queens.

If moderator Gwen Ifill doesn't ask Republican Sarah Palin or Democrat Joe Biden a question about education during tonight's must-watch debate at 9 p.m., it won't be because no one tried.

The Education Equality Project folks are making their pitch to the debate honchos to ask an education question. A letter to the moderator, signed by New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and ED in '08 leaders, makes the case that the amount of time devoted to education during the presidential campaign has been "shockingly small." The letter goes on to say:

In fact, of 653 questions at 30 debates, only 20 questions addressed education--just 3%. The infrequency with which education is discussed at the debates can't be attributed to a focus on the economy and foreign policy. In the last Democratic debate in Cleveland, for instance, Senators Obama and Clinton spent more than 15 minutes discussing health care; no education questions were asked.

First let me thank TPM for hosting this discussion and Paul for inviting me to participate. Paul has a lot of fans in the education policy community because his work at the Times Magazine has elevated the discourse around education a great deal, and everyone who cares about education is in his debt for that. Our corner of the policy world doesn't often get lights like this shined on it.

That's why Whatever It Takes is a wonderful book. It's a great story; Geoffrey Canada is just one of those magnetic people in life. It's an outstanding and accessible look at the complicated intersection of social policy, education policy, race, and class. And it couldn't be better timed. Although education is a second tier issue in a presidential campaign where the economy, foreign policy, and energy are understandably taking center stage, the school reform debate is quietly coming to a head.

While party unity was a key theme of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, an important divide has emerged on education between teachers' unions on one side, and a new cadre of urban education leaders on the other. The upstarts represent a significant challenge to the unions' stubborn opposition to education reform as well as their stranglehold on the Democratic Party.

The split was evident at the "Ed Challenge for Change" forum, which attracted an overflowing crowd in Denver during convention week. Joe Williams, director of Democrats for Education Reform, began the discussion by noting that "the Democratic Party used to be a party about progress, and our hope on the education issue is that we will return to that day when we are the ones standing up for the little guy." Williams went on to introduce a roster of speakers whom he identified as "the misfits of the Democratic Party." They included Newark mayor Cory Booker; Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty and schools chancellor Michelle Rhee; New York schools chancellor Joel Klein; Denver schools superintendent Michael Bennet; and former Colorado governor Roy Romer.

"Senator Obama says that neglect of the ongoing crisis in public education in the United States has created a 'day of reckoning' for this country's leaders. We couldn't agree more," said Reverend Sharpton and Chancellor Klein. "We welcome Senator Obama's emphasis on reforms that we've set forth in the Education Equality Project's statement of principles: funding successful charter schools to create better choices for parents and increasing pay to teachers who raise the achievement of their students as well as replacing those who do not succeed.

"As with all such proposals, the details matter. For these initiatives to work they must not be half-measures and must also be accompanied by other efforts that will ensure meaningful accountability and real academic rigor. All Americans must recognize that it's essential to our Nation's future that we set high standards for our children and then hold ourselves accountable--as teachers, school leaders, parents, community members, and elected and appointed officials--for meeting those standards."

Yesterday was a special day around my house. It was back-to-school day for my girls. Sasha started second grade and Malia began 5th. I know Malia was really embarrassed when I walked her to the classroom, but I did it anyway because she's still Daddy's girl. And seeing them back at school was a reminder not only that another year had passed and that they're growing up a little faster than I'd sometimes like. It was also a reminder of all the other parents who are dropping their children off at school, and all the other kids who are getting ready for another year of classes.

Every four years, we hear candidates talk about the vital importance of education; about how improving our schools is key to the future of our children and the future of our country. Every four years, we hear about how this time, we're going to make it an urgent national priority. Remember the 2000 election, when George W. Bush promised to be the "education President"?

But just as with energy independence and health care, the urgency of upgrading public education for the 21st century has been talked to death in Washington. And that failure to act has put our nation in jeopardy.

While political pundits have spent countless broadcast hours and editorial pages obsessing over an imaginary rift within the African-American community's generational leadership, very few have given sufficient time or attention to the real divide that deserves our entire country's focus: the achievement gap in our public schools.

The future of America rests on our ability to educate all children -- black, white, Asian and Hispanic, rich and poor, urban and suburban -- at high levels. Our ability to live up to this nation's founding ideals will be chiefly measured by our progress in closing the educational attainment gap between youth in the most disadvantaged communities and those in more affluent neighborhoods.

While we have made such extraordinary advancements in technology, science and communications, it is a national disgrace that we have failed to make equivalent gains in providing every child access to a quality public education. In a global, knowledge-based economy, America's competitiveness is dependent upon the preparedness and proficiency of its young people. By this standard, we have fallen short.

President Bush isn't the only Republican who believes in high academic standards and aggressive accountability. That's the message that came across at today's event put on by American Solutions for Winning the Future, a nonprofit organization started by Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Education Equality Project and ED in 08 were among the co-sponsors of the event.

Gingrich's group used the issue of global competitiveness to galvanize support for policies, including alternative pay for teachers and rigorous curricula benchmarked against international standards. For education redesign efforts to succeed, they will have to be championed by Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, Gingrich said.

"If you're going to get this to scale, it's going to have to be a tripartisan effort," Gingrich said. "What we're going to have here today is some people you've probably traditionally thought of as Democrats and some you've probably thought of as Republicans."

"I woke up this morning and a cynical Democrat asked me why I would be at the Republican convention appearing onstage with Newt Gingrich," Mr. Sharpton said. "And I looked at him in the mirror"at this point Mr. Sharpton was interrupted by a wave of laughter "and said that there must be some things that we can put partisan and ideological things aside for. And that must be our children."

MINNEAPOLIS -- What could bring the leader of the 1994 Republican Revolution and a Baptist minister from New York together on one stage? Education reform.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton addressed Republican delegates this morning in a downtown hotel ballroom about the need for a bipartisan approach to improving the education of America's children. Gingrich now serves as chairman of American Solutions, a bipartisan, multi-issue nonprofit. Sharpton co-chairs the Education Equality Project along with New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Mayors, superintendants and education reform leaders from around the country have signed on to the EEP.

Folks wondering whether Michelle Obama will be an asset or a liability to her husband's campaign for the White House got their answer last night: She's a plus - and then some.

In a year when voters are focused on the economy and war, the needs and short- comings of the nation's education system must remain in the forefront of political discussion, education advocates said Sunday.

"When we look at the achievement gap, we almost look like we're back in the mid-'50s," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, his preacher's voice bouncing off the steel outside the Denver Art Museum and drawing in passers-by. "It is embarrassing to the world as we try to redefine ourselves in the global setup that we have such a stark and blatant gap in achievement in this country."

Sharpton; Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker; former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer; and a handful of other prominent civic leaders working on the Education Equality Project beseeched voters Sunday to pay attention to America's education system.

Something is brewing here in Denver. A day before the Democratic National Convention officially begins, a collection of proven education reformers have come together in the Denver Art Museum for the purpose of outlining a strategy for the Obama campaign. Their mission: To submit a letter with concrete details that they believe will provide the best chance for drastic educational reform in the United States. What is inspiring about this group is that their words hold genuine hope.

A coalition of Democratic school reformers sent a stark, bare-knuckled message to teacher unions Sunday: the days of the party pandering to this particular interest group are over.

During a convention-eve forum hosted by a coalition of local and national education organizations, Democratic mayors, legislators and school officials spoke in no uncertain terms about how, in their view, unions have become a major obstacle to meaningful education reform.

And, they said, radical reform must begin now if the United States is to have a prayer of remaining economically competitive as the 21st century progresses.

On the Eve of the Democratic Convention, Education Equality Project Coalition Members Say Transforming a System that Has Failed Generations of Minority Students Should be A Core Element of the Democrats' Domestic Agenda

Educational Equality Project co-founders Reverend Al Sharpton and New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein today joined with elected officials, educational leaders, and teachers in Denver to call on the Democratic Party to view the nation's failing schools as a civil rights crisis and make school reform central to the party's domestic agenda. They were joined at a press conference outside the Denver Art Museum by several signatories of the Education Equality Project's statement of principles, including former Colorado Governor Roy Romer; Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey; Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington, D.C.; Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper; Denver Superintendent Michael Bennet; Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee; Chairman of Democrats for Education Reform Kevin P. Chavous; musician and radio host James Mtume, and Denver teacher Greg Ahrnsbrak. The Democratic Party's national convention begins tomorrow in Denver.