Last month, the American Enterprise Institute held a day-long conference on the Federal Role in education. Video highlights, panel discussions and links to white papers are available at http://www.aei.org/event/100357#doc. My favorite video clip is of Michael Petrelli discussing how the federal government can “do what it’s good at.” Instead of asking, What can the federal government do to fix our schools?” Petrelli urges, we should ask “What can Washington do to contribute?” He explains that the federal government is too far removed from local school systems to really do the fixing and that if we expect the Department of Education to be the leader of school reform efforts, we’re going to come up disappointed.
So, what does Petrelli say that Washington can do to contribute? For one, competitive grant programs can influence state policy (as we’ve seen with Race to the Top). In addition, the What Works Clearinghouse can disseminate research-based findings to states and local jurisdictions (but, he points out, educators do not always follow the data). The federal government can also positively impact issues around transparency, accountability and testing.
To view Petrelli’s highlight, see http://bcove.me/3u06jc9y. Petrelli is executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
