"Yes." Part of the cost for textbook publishers is trying to deal with at least 50 sets of standards, and that isn't efficient for anyone.

talked about meetings she has attended with other agencies to develop a plan to get more bandwidth to rural areas in the country

Office of Educational Technology Still Up in the Air The topic of a new director for the Office of Educational Technology provided the least amount of discussion. Shelton refused comment on who that person might be, when a name might be released, or even where the position would be placed in the organization. Beginning with the first Director, Linda Roberts under Secretary Richard Riley in the Clinton administration and continuing through John Bailey, Susan Patrick, and Tim Magner under President Bush, this position has always reported directly to the secretary. Rumor in Washington is that the position will report to the assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, Shelton, and not the secretary.

Story HighlightsChristensen, Horn: Federal spending on schools is set to jumpThey say it would be a big mistake to use money to let failing schools resist changeCo-authors: Federal money should go to innovators challenging traditional waysThey say technology should be used to create new forms of schooling

The most likely result of this stimulus will be to give our schools the luxury of affording not to change.

Fourth, direct more funds for research and development to create student-centric learning software. Just a fraction of 1 percent of the $600 billion in K-12 spending from all levels currently goes toward R&D. The federal government should reallocate funds so we can begin to understand not just what learning opportunities work best on average but also what works for whom and under what circumstance. It is vital to fund learning software that captures data about the student and the efficacy of different approaches so we can connect these dots.