School Choice: Big Gains in The Big Easy

Atlanta – What does leadership in school choice look like? New Orleans, La.  

What does leadership in school choice sound like? Matt Candler, chairman of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and CEO of 4.0 Schools. 

Candler, an Atlanta native, is the keynote speaker at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s 8 a.m. Leadership Breakfast on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at Cobb County’s Georgian Club. Join Candler as he describes his team’s role in the disruption and transformation of education in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, leading to the most innovative and aggressive public school reforms in the nation. 

This event is open to the public and is $25 to attend. Register online at http://bit.ly/1lmETV5. 

Candler founded 4.0 Schools (http://4pt0.org), a community of passionate people building the future of school one piece at a time. Based in New Orleans and New York, 4.0 invests in people who know that school needs to change and are ready to start building real solutions to real problems. 

After teaching and coaching middle school after college, Candler returned to his hometown to help run the main operations center for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. After the Games he studied decision sciences and the emerging charter sector at the Kellogg School of Management. He then served as founding co-principal of a K-8 charter school in North Carolina and helped launch other charter schools in the Southeast. 

A veteran of the charter school movement, from 2001 to 2004 Candler served as KIPP Foundation’s Vice President of School Development, where his team established 37 new schools across the United States. He later served as founding COO of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, a $41 million effort to promote quality charter school creation.  

Most recently, Candler served New Schools for New Orleans as its first CEO and built a team whose human capital and school creation efforts have led to the most innovative and aggressive public school reforms in the nation. He continues to play an active role in Louisiana reform as chairman of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and co-founder of the citywide teacher support community, closingthenolagap.org. 

Register online by Tuesday, April 22 at http://bit.ly/1lmETV5. (Difficulty registering? E-mail or call 404-256-4050). Media interested in attending please contact Benita Dodd. 

Who: Matt Candler
What: “School Choice: Big Gains in The Big Easy,” a Leadership Breakfast
When: 8 a.m. April 24, 2014
Where: The Georgian Club, 100 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1700, Atlanta, GA 30339
Directions: http://tinyurl.com/4cf9yy2
Attire: Business, Business Casual. No jeans, cut-offs, tennis shoes, collarless sport shirts, shorts or athletic attire.