Rather than seizing on current fiscal realities to streamline and improve schools, far too many states and districts are proceeding as if it is business as usual, kicking the can down the road until they are forced to make clumsy, last-minute, disruptive cuts.

A recent congressional move to subsidize teacher salaries and avoid layoffs will make it harder for states and school districts for prepare for the rough seas ahead.

As educators face an altered fiscal landscape, conservatives have the ideas that can help, and are in a position to complement "choice" with smart strategies that address incentives, cost structures, and market dynamics.

At this event, panelists discussed the current health care reform bill and Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. delivered a keynote discussing the impact of health care reform.

While educators are eager to forget the financial woes of the past two years and return to the familiar routine of steady budget increases, the fiscal outlook for America's fourteen thousand school districts is bleak--not just for next year, but for a half decade or more.