New School: Advice for Obama on Education

This Heritage Foundation column offers President-elect Obama advice regarding what should be done to heal America’s educational system. The authors list the following as the most imperative actions the administration should pursue:

  • Reform federal K-12 education programs to encourage state and local reform and facilitate greater parental choice.
  • End ineffective, wasteful, or duplicative education programs.
  • Protect and expand school choice in Washington, D.C.
  • Fix ineffective federal early childhood education programs rather than adding new ones.
  • Call attention to the real engines of reform: the power of parents and successful reform models at the state and local levels.

They conclude:

You were right to say during your campaign that "we cannot be satisfied until every child in America…has the same chance for a good education that we want for our own children." But four decades of experience with increasing federal involvement has shown that Washington cannot deliver on that promise. Instead of further expanding federal authority in education, your Administration should empower those who have more power to make a difference in children’s education, especially parents. 

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