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. A separate reform strand has focused on building new institutions-such as charter schools, nonprofit organizations, and education service providers-outside the district system to provide additional educational options for youngsters and services to schools, and on increasing autonomy for existing district schools.

Many education reform efforts, including the Obama administration's current Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation initiatives, have simultaneously embraced both strands of education reform. But are these two approaches to reforming education really compatible? Or will little-discussed tensions between the two approaches undermine current reform efforts? Does one strategy have greater promise to improve educational options for our nation's youngsters? And, as Congress begins working to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, what does this mean for federal education policy?

Join New America for a lively conversation with two leading education experts who represent very different approaches to school reform. Chester E. Finn, Jr., is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, and the authors of numerous books and articles on education reform, including, most recently Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik. Gordon MacInnes is a former New Jersey state senator and Assistant Commissioner of Education, and the author, most recently, of In Plain Sight: Simple, Difficult Lessons from New Jersey's Effort to Close the Achievement Gap. He is currently a fellow at The Century Foundation and a consultant to the Foundation for Child Development.