Newark, N.J., schools chief Clifford B. Janey, Allan R. Odden of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, and Jonathan Travers of Education Research Strategies share methods for preserving instructional quality while cutting school budgets.

Education leaders and school finance experts from the district, state, and national levels discuss how money from the federal economic-stimulus package can be used to advance school improvement.

Experts say other nations like China and India are more focused than the U.S. on developing students’ technical skills. How do you think the U.S. is doing in preparing students to use technology effectively for learning and work? What should U.S. schools do to improve students’ tech skills?

Can a student who completes a virtual dissection of a fetal pig get the same level of experience as a student who performs a live dissection? Do you think simulations can replace hands-on science experiments? From your experience, what are the advantages and disadvantages of both?