An Unfinished Journey: Education
And The American Dream
(2020)
Inspired by love of country, her Italian heritage, and this nation’s ongoing quest to raise its children to aspire and achieve their greatest dreams, Jeanne Allen wrote An Unfinished Journey, which uniquely challenges us to think big about the education of our youth.
BOOK OVERVIEW
The author—a well-known pioneer and veteran of education policy, politics, and culture—provides a compendium of powerful yet brief essays that will have parents, policy makers, and the general public both laughing and crying at the way the nation’s education institutions have developed or mishandled all that it takes to help children achieve their greatest potential. From musings on Columbus Day to how kids behave in school and from the role of parents to politicians, this book is a uniquely informative and instructive firsthand account of the people, policies, and players that have shaped American education and why it matters. Combining a fascinating personal story with political acumen from more than thirty years in the arena, Allen paves the road to finishing the journey to the American dream.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Jeanne Allen is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform (CER), which she launched in 1993 to advance school choice, parent power, and bold education policy. A former senior official at the U.S. Department of Education under President Reagan, she is also the co-creator of the Yass Prize, now in its fifth year, which has awarded over $50 million to more than 200 transformational education providers serving 14 million students.
A regular contributor to Forbes, Allen authors the Forza newsletter, hosts the In Piazza podcast, and co-produces #EdReform-in-10 with Dash Media. Her latest book is An Unfinished Journey: Education and the American Dream. She was honored with the 2025 Power of Women Award from ASU+GSV.
Active in organizations important to her faith and heritage, Allen is a member of the Constantinian Order of St. George, the Order of Malta, and serves on the National Italian American Foundation’s Da Vinci Council.
As she writes in An Unfinished Journey: Education & the American Dream:
“We are a nation that prides itself on independence and entrepreneurial endeavors. We believe that we can do anything. But somehow improving the delivery of and access to education and skills needed to work is still not a national priority enough to truly change what we do so that it actually works. This is a national travesty.”