Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog, March 2014 by Valerie Strauss Bertis Downs is a parent who lives in Athens Ga., and the former legal counselor and manager of the band R.E.M. He wrote the following letter to President Obama, inviting the president to visit a high school in Athens to see the impact of his … Continue reading Parent to Obama: Why don’t private schools adopt your test-based school reforms?
Tag: athens
Postcard from Athens, September 21, 2013
Two years ago today, on September 21, 2011, Mike, Peter and Michael made the announcement, from sort of outtatheblue, that they had decided to “call it a day” and that R.E.M. would cease to exist in the active, record-making, touring together, making music mode of the past three decades. It was bittersweet for them, to … Continue reading Postcard from Athens, September 21, 2013
A Footnote to Fairly Recent History – 2013
A footnote to fairly recent history: our good friend from back in the early Warner Bros days, Jeff Gold, sent me this editorial from the NY Times: For the rest, please go here.
R.E.M. manager Downs reflects on career, looks forward on public education
Online Athens, February 2013 by Andre Gallant Bertis Downs, longtime manager of R.E.M., had an early run-in with rock ’n’ roll’s upper echelons as a bell hop in Atlanta in the 1970s. During a summer working at Atlanta’s Colony Square hotel, between semesters at law school, Downs encountered “an entourage of old people” who had … Continue reading R.E.M. manager Downs reflects on career, looks forward on public education
R.E.M.’s Bertis Downs: ‘Good Schools for All Kids’
February, 2013 Blake Aued As their lawyer, Bertis Downs had a front-row seat to local legends R.E.M.'s 20-year career as one of the most influential and popular rock bands in the world. So, when people had the opportunity to ask him anything, what did they want to know about? Education. Downs sat down with Willson … Continue reading R.E.M.’s Bertis Downs: ‘Good Schools for All Kids’
BERTIS DOWNS 
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