Jeanne Allen, the founder and president of the Center for Education Reform, a Washington-based group that advocates for school choice and other issues, will be stepping down from her post on Nov. 1 of this year.
“It’s really clear that the education reform movement is headed into a new phase,” she said on a conference call with reporters today. “Now is the ideal moment to hand over the day-to-day operations of the center to the next generation.”
Allen will stay on as president of the organization until October, when she will begin transitioning out of her full-time position and training the next president of the Center for Education Reform. She has been the leader of the organization for 20 years.
After the transition on Nov. 1, Allen hopes to spend more time writing a book, she said in the call, and pursuing other opportunities that she has had to turn down in recent years because of a lack of time.
“I’m exploring how my energy and my experience might be able to be able to used for a different way in education reform, but I’m pretty confident that it will be in the area of education reform,” she said.
Allen will continue to consult with the Center for Education Reform and serve on their board.
Allen and the Center for Education Reform did not say who might take over the organization, but said that personnel announcements would be forthcoming in the next few months. “We’re going to be working with the board to decide what the new leadership looks like,” said Allen.