Where Obama went wrong on education – and what Romney needs to say

If education philanthropists want to influence policy, then they must open themselves to more public debate about their  plans and goals.

The latest report in AEI's series on the K-12 education implications of Race to the Top analyzes the program's strengths and weaknesses to determine what it can teach future designers and implementers of federal education policy.

Join us at AEI for a conversation that will consider what the 2012 elections hold for education against the backdrop of the new book "Carrots, Sticks, and the Bully Pulpit: Lessons from a Half-Century of Federal Efforts to Improve America's Schools," edited by AEI's Frederick M. Hess and Andrew P. Kelly.

Sen. Jim DeMint doesn’t think people much care about his presidential endorsement. But people do care--a lot.

The goal of this paper is to analyze Race to the Top to identify the program's strengths and weaknesses and to suggest what it can teach future designers and implementers of federal education policy.

If Republicans allow the 2012 election to become a referendum on the GOP plan for Medicare, Obama will cruise to reelection. But if Republicans make the election a referendum on the economic failures of Obama's first term--and offer a hopeful alternative vision for our economy--he may not get a second.

Steven Brill’s Class Warfare is an immensely readable take on a slice of the “school reform” movement and an intriguing look at some key individuals in that effort. But, as is shown by its treatment of philanthropy, the book is perhaps more revealing for what its author omits—and how its blinkered view can mislead readers on big questions.