Are teachers paid too much? It's a question that would ignite heated debate at the most mellow of cocktail parties. But it's a question that AEI took head-on this year.

Many public workers are overpaid relative to their private sector counterparts, especially in large, unionized states such as Wisconsin, Ohio and California. This may sound like a controversial claim, but it shouldn't. A consensus is building about the need for reform.

Community colleges are subsidized through direct state and local government appropriations and through student grant programs. Every student who drops out represents an investment loss by the taxpayers in that student's uncompleted education.

Aggressive leadership on the "business" of schooling isn't an end in itself, but it is essential if school leaders are going to have the resources they need to drive improvements in teaching and learning through the stormy seas ahead.

For decades, the challenges of school reform in cities like Dallas seemed nearly insuperable. Even as they spent as much or more than nearby suburbs, city schools struggled under the weight of poverty, broken families, turgid bureaucracies, depressing conditions, and low expectations. The result has been dismal performance.

Education cuts in Nevada call for a new mindset among educators and an unfamiliar, sometimes-uncomfortable commitment to productivity and cost-effectiveness.

As school districts across the country struggle financially, Frederick M. Hess of AEI and Eric Osberg of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute offer new insight into how school leaders can not only survive the current economic storm, but also restructure their schools to save money and improve efficiency.

For years, business has been content to stay above the political fray of school improvement, happily delivering dollars to educational leaders when called upon. But if business is truly serious about driving reform, it needs to recognize that it is uniquely positioned to step up in more consequential ways than donating supplies or sponsoring scholarships.