Public Law 96-88, signed by President Jimmy Carter in October 1979, formally established the U.S. Department of Education in 1980. In recognition of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the department, please join AEI as we examine lessons learned about the crafting of federal education policy from the department’s first quarter century.

What are the structural and political limitations on educational leadership at the federal level? How has education policy evolved in the last twenty-five years? What is the most productive way for a secretary to work with the White House and Congress? These questions and others will be examined by former secretaries of education William Bennett, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Rod Paige. Andrew Rotherham, former education advisor to President Bill Clinton, will join in the conversation. AEI director of education policy studies Frederick M. Hess will moderate.