Sen. Johnston Named to Education Commission

Newly-appointed Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, has been named to a prestigious bipartisan panel charged with recommending improvements to the country's most significant public education law.

Johnston, the former principal at Thornton's Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts, will join the Aspen Institute's Commission on No Child Left Behind.

The commission will study how to improve low-performing schools, teacher effectiveness, standards and assessments, and graduation rates.

The panel meets for the first time Sept. 2 at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Other members of the commission include former Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson and former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes.