Ask the Expert: Melissa Lazarín on Opportunities for Education Reform

Where are the opportunities for education reform in the coming year?

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we've actually seen more reforms in education than we've seen in a really long time. The Race to the Top Program really inspired a lot of states to change their laws in really meaningful ways with respect to education, and President Obama is hoping to capitalize on that by making a very vigorous effort to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is the law that overseas K-12 education in the United States, and building on a lot of the promising programs like Race to the Top from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But right now what is actually getting underway is the appropriations process, where Congress decides which federal programs get money and how much. And that's actually a really important opportunity to keep the reform momentum going in education.

What is President Obama doing on education reform in his Fiscal Year 2011 budget?

It was really clear from President Obama's budget that education is a priority. It was one of the few program areas that saw an increase, and within education the president is prioritizing innovation. And Congress has an opportunity to build on some of the reforms that he's proposing, for example, continuing the successful Race to the Top program, targeting a significant amount of money to turning around low-performing schools, but targeting that money for distinct models so the money is spent very effectively. There's also a chance to improve teacher effectiveness to make sure all schools and all kids have access to effective teachers and leaders.

Why invest in new types of education funding now?

In these difficult economic times, it's really important that we're spending the limited federal education dollars that we have most effectively, and President Obama has proposed shifting a little bit more of the education dollars into competitive grant programs than has traditionally been that case. And this is actually a good idea because it can help inspire innovation and change like we saw with the Race to the Top program. And we can take what we learn and apply that to the larger steam of federal education dollars like Title I and Title II.