Tough Talk --- and Hard Truths --- about America's Public Schools from Dr. Steve Perry

On StudioTulsa today, we speak by phone with Dr. Steve Perry, a passionate, down-to-earth, and plainspoken --- make that outspoken --- education-reform advocate who's best known as the founder and principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut. This school has sent one-hundred percent of its predominantly low-income, minority, first-generation high-school graduates to four-year colleges every year since its first class graduated in 2006. Dr. Perry basically argues that it all comes down to our teachers: only the most dedicated, driven, and diligent educators --- those, indeed, who feel "called" above all else in life to become teachers --- can turn things around in this country, when it comes to public education. Dr. Perry has also been an education commentator for CNN and MSNBC, and he is the author of "Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve --- Even If It Means Picking a Fight." (You can read his full bio here.) He'll be speaking here in Tulsa tonight (Friday the 22nd) at 7pm at the Robert Russa Moton Gala, which is presented by Morton Comprehensive Services. (Complete details on this event, including ticket information, are posted at this link.)