What Uncle Sam can (and cannot) do to improve K–12 schooling: Lessons for the next four years

American Enterprise Institute

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan talk in a hold area before the President delivers his third annual  back-to-school speech at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School  in

Washington, D.C. Sept. 28, 2011.

"...because decisions directly affecting individual schools are made at the state and local levels, Washington bureaucrats have largely failed at enforcing mandates and fixing poorly performing schools. The new Obama administration would do well to embrace a more measured approach to education reform that reflects lessons learned from past successes and failures."