Since President Obama called for a federal investment in universal preschool as part of his February State of the Union address, early childhood advocates have been eagerly awaiting the answers to several key questions:

We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers.

President Barack Obama

Election victory speech

November 7, 2012

In his victory speech Tuesday night President Obama reached out to the country to help him make the next four years a time of renewal and reaffirmation. There is no better place to launch such a shaContinue Reading »

What the re-election means for K-12 … President Obama will focus on expanding Race to the Top, supporting early education, and better training educators to teach in STEM-related fields, say education thought leaders. (Hechinger Report)

… and higher education. More than once, Obama has made mention of awarding some federal financial aid based on a university’s efforts to curb rising tuitiContinue Reading »

Last week, Education Nation closed the summit with interviews from President Obama and Governor Romney. The candidates seemed to agree more than they disagreed—in fact, Brian Williams asked Governor Romney if he would retain Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education for a Romney presidency. Performance pay was one area where President Obama and Governor Romney were closely aligned. “There should beContinue Reading »

The party conventions are over; President Obama and Governor Romney are neck and neck in the polls. As we head toward November 6th it’s a good time to ask what each candidate is likely to do in the next four years to address the complex, multilayered, and politically fraught crisis in American education. The stakes are high because as the 21st century unfolds our clunky and often rusty K20 educContinue Reading »

What’s Obama’s grade? A look at President Obama’s record on education policy since he took office. (Politico)

“More muscle and tissue than the past.” College Board’s new president, David Coleman, speaks candidly to Rick Hess about his new position and the future of College Board and Common Core. (Straight Up/Education Week)

A “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for schoContinue Reading »

On Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) held a hearing before a Senate Judiciary Committee subpanel promoting legislation that would allow financially distressed borrowers to discharge their private student loans in bankruptcy. If Durbin has any hope of getting traction on this important bill, he’s going to need the help of another powerful Illinois politician: President Obama, who has so far avoidContinue Reading »

To create jobs, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to cut taxes on “job creators” and generally get the government out of the way. But many manufacturers around the country say the jobs are already there. What’s missing are the skilled workers to fill them. So is cutting the government out really the answer? In at least one case, in Charlotte, N.C., governmentContinue Reading »

Today marks the first day of Student Debt Week of Action. This makes Degreeless in Debt: What Happens to Borrowers Who Drop Out even timelier as I investigated what happens to a growing class of students who drop out of college, but have loans to repay.  Unlike their degree-holding peers, those who drop out are more likely to be unemployed and earn less money, making it harder for them to pay bContinue Reading »

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

On Monday, the Obama administration released its budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. $69.8 billion was requested for the Department of Education, a $1.7 billion dollar increase from the previous year. Since Steve already covered some of the budget’s higher ed components, today we’re looking at the hottest K-12 budget items: $14.5 bContinue Reading »