Two distinct strands have emerged in U.S. education reform in recent years. One strand has focused on reforming education at the school district level, by aligning curriculum, instruction, and teacher professional development across schools and grades within a district; improving district-level management and governance; and enhancing districts' capacity to turn around low-performing schools and drive school improvement.

On Tuesday, March 31, the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program hosted "The Future of Federal Student Loans." This event featured representatives from the Obama administration, the student loan community, and New America's Education Policy Program to discuss the pros and cons of the President's proposal to stop guaranteeing federal student loans and to instead make the loans directly.

Funding is always a central issue in education policy debates, and education funding is often a bone of contention in federal budget and appropriations battles. Yet many of the people who are most affected by federal education budget decisions are unaware of how those decisions are made or where the money goes. On June 12 the New America Foundation launched the Federal Education Budget Project to lift the veil from the federal education budget process and provide policymakers, journalists, educators, and the general public new data and analysis on education funding issues.