Postelection Challenges Abound on Education Policy

By Alyson Klein

The 2010 midterm elections may have brought seismic political changes at the state and national levels, but new governors, state legislators, and members of Congress confront a familiar set of hurdles as they seek to carry out education policy goals in the face of continued economic uncertainty.

The challenge: how to reconcile sluggish revenues and calls for slimmed-down government with a long list of ambitious—and potentially costly—education overhaul projects already in progress.

“This is education’s ‘General Motors’ moment,” says Bob Wise, a former Democratic governor of West Virginia, as K-12 systems across the country push to produce a higher-quality product while...