Leadership for America

Education

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

American education is in a state of crisis. Every year, millions of children pass through America’s schools without receiving a quality education that prepares them to succeed in life, to compete in the increasingly competitive global economy, and to maintain the blessings and responsibilities of a free society. Among African American and Hispanic students, for example, only 56 and 52 percent of students graduate from high school. This widespread failure imposes unquantifiable costs on individual lives and our communities. As a country, it imperils our national security. For years, policymakers have sought to improve American schools by increasing government control. But decades of increased spending and increased federal control have yielded little improvement in student performance.

The Heritage Foundation believes that every child in America should have an opportunity to receive a high-quality education. An average student entering kindergarten today will have more than $100,000 spent on his or her behalf by taxpayers before finishing high school. We believe that families should have greater control over this investment: specifically, the power to choose a safe and effective school for their child. Giving families this power will encourage innovation and improvement that American education needs for the twenty-first century. For these reasons, we support policies that move educational control out of Washington, D.C., to families and local communities.

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OBJECTIVES

  1. 1. To ensure that all parents are able to choose education for their children from a variety of options that prepare young people to maintain and expand the blessings and responsibilities of a free society.

  2. 2. To provide all Americans with access to the educational and cultural resources that contribute to upward mobility.

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Our Work on Education

Experts From This Initiative

  • Lindsey Burke Lindsey Burke

    Lindsey Burke researches and writes on federal and state education issues as a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation. Burke's research has been cited by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journa and Fox News, and she has been quoted in Time and Newsweek, among other major media outlets. Her commentary and opinion pieces have appeared in such print and online venues as National Review Online, The Star-Ledger and the Boston Herald. Burke has spoken on education reform before audiences from Capitol Hill to local "school choice" communities. Before joining Heritage in 2008 as a research assistant, Burke taught high school French in Virginia. She earned a bachelor's degree in politics from Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., and a master of teaching degree in foreign language education from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, Brian, reside in Washington, D.C. ...

  • Jennifer Marshall Jennifer Marshall

    As Director of Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, Jennifer A. Marshall oversees research in areas that determine the character of our culture: education, marriage, family, religion, and civil society. Marshall directs the think tank’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society and manages familyfacts.org, an online catalog of social science research relating to family and religious practice. Marshall also works with other Heritage analysts to explore how moral values and civil society relate to issues like limited government, consumer-driven health care, and foreign policy.  Her papers often reflect this integrated approach, covering topics like the patients’ freedom of conscience in health care, or the case against United Nations’ involvement in social issues. Marshall has spoken at national and international forums, testified before Congress, and appeared on radio and television shows, such as C-SPAN’s premier talk show, “Washington Journal” and Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes.” Marshall is the author of Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century (Multnomah Publishers, June 2007). The book evaluates the cultural, practical, and spiritual issues that marriage-minded young women confront as the age of first marriage continues to rise in America.  Before joining Heritage in 2003, Marshall worked on cultural policy issues at Empower America, another Washington-based think tank. Before that, she was Senior Director of Family Studies at the Family Research Council and taught at an American school in Lyon, France. Marshall holds a master’s degree in statecraft and world politics from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in French from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where she also earned teacher’s certification. She lives in Arlington, Va....

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