Room for Improvement in Ed Policy

While the issue of education may have been largely missing from presidential campaign rhetoric, supplanted by language aimed at calming fears about the economy, many polls suggested it was still a top concern for voters.

In a discussion at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Thursday, a panel of experts examined how the election results will affect education reform at the federal, state, and local levels.

Education wasn’t a main talking point during the campaign, the speakers agreed, in part because of its nuance and political sensitivity. Obama programs such as “Race to the Top,” a $4 billion competitive grant program that rewards states that develop reforms, has some support from states but is “not easy to explain,” said Jal Mehta, an assistant professor of education. Mitt Romney, Mehta said, was forced to balance his track record of overhauls at the state level with the Republican Party’s desire to have a “limited federal role in education.”

To read more, visit the Harvard Gazette.