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Innovation Is the Key to Smarter Schools —And the Budget Crises Might Spur It

By Stanley S. Litow

The federal stimulus package has brought encouraging news for the nation’s schools. Our young people will benefit from increased funding for Title I for disadvantaged students, grants through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for special education, expansion of early-childhood education via Head Start, increased emphasis on science and technology, and more charter and choice schools.

While each of these is important, the most valuable sums out of some $100 billion in extra funding for education under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are not going toward a specific program. Rather, they are fueling a real and overdue focus on innovation. The U.S. Department of Education now has $5 billion in special funding to be used to promote changes that will draw heavily on the development of new, innovative practices.

This money is critical, but our biggest 21st-century challenge in education is getting more value for our dollars. We need to end the Band-Aid approach to school improvement. The promise of the stimulus funds for innovation is that they could open the door for large-scale transformation. In essence, it’s not how much you spend, but how you...