State education agencies and their chiefs must transform the SEA into an agent of change that can assist districts in the crucial task of remaking our public schools to meet the needs of our children in the 21st century.

As part of a bid for renewed authority to streamline government, the White House wants to merge six agencies into one bureaucracy focused on trade and competitiveness. The plan has sparked substantial criticism from the U.S. business and trade policy communities. An expert panel will weigh in on the controversy and evaluate President Obama's reorganization proposal.

Regardless of current academic accomplishment, innovative educational practices are vital to laying the groundwork for continuous and transformational change.

What does 2012 hold, both in terms of policy and politics, for the developing relationship between public-sector workers and taxpayers? What does a proactive reform agenda for 2012 look like? Is a pro-reform platform a winning issue for reformers or their opponents? This event will address these and other questions in two panel discussions.

By removing barriers to innovation and reform and providing greater support for entrepreneurship, we can spur the critical and necessary new solutions to many of public education's greatest challenges.

The number of schools ranked highly in guides such as Barron's Profiles of American Colleges is increasing, without any evidence that these schools' instructional quality is also increasing. Applicants and their families should be wary of letting these rankings serve as the main criteria in their college decisions.

In an event co-hosted by AEI and the Center for American Progress, Rick Hess and Raegan Miller will discuss their views on what particular changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will allow it to fulfill its aims without causing educators and local officials legal headaches.

The Mountain West —Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah —has become the new swing region in American politics. All signs point to these states, especially Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, being crucial in the 2012 election. Unfortunately, the rise of this region has been underreported in the media,...