Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda

Overview & Synopsis

The newly created Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN) at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) invited a group of conservative education thinkers to sketch policy proposals that they would like to see in a new education agenda. The only requirement was that they offer suggestions that would complement the traditional conservative litany. The proposals that came in span an array of topics, from a national citizenship curriculum to an appraisal market for K-12 education to the replacement of the student loan system with an income share agreement program. The first of these categories is "Educational Innovations," which encompasses ideas that challenge the status quo and offer alternatives to the current state of classroom, school, and district affairs. The second is "Civic and Philanthropic Leadership," which includes proposals that can best be driven forward by private citizens, corporations, or philanthropic institutions. The third and final category is "Policy Proposals," which includes proposals that rely on government action, be it federal, state, or local. This collection of essays is not intended as a comprehensive package or even a list of prescriptions. Indeed, some of the proposals are in tension with one another. Rather, in the spirit of AEI's fierce commitment to the competition of ideas, the hope is that this thinking will deepen the sense of what is possible when it comes to reforming American education. [This report was produced by the Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN) at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).]