Fifty years ago, the National Defense Education Act—America’s response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik—was the first serious federal foray into K-12 education. Forty years ago, LBJ injected the federal government into education through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Twenty years ago, the report A Nation at Risk put schools back in the national spotlight. Today, however, despite mounting anxiety about American economic competitiveness and the pending reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, discussions about education are all but absent from the presidential race. Why? How will the results of the 2008 presidential race affect education? What education issues might influence the election?

At this event, Chester E. Finn Jr., author of the recent book Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik (Princeton University Press, 2008); Marc Lampkin, of ED in ’08; and William Galston of the Brookings Institution will discuss education as a presidential election issue. AEI director of education policy studies Frederick M. Hess will moderate.