Mal Kline comments on a revealing conference at the American Enterprise Institute that showed why there is more talk than action from politicians regarding education reform. It’s “earmarking” that really grabs their interest, said Dickinson College’s Andrew Rudalevige, because it allows them to score points with their constituents. Rudalevige showed how this dynamic played out with the National Institutes of Education (NIE).

Read more about how the explosion of pork barrel spending has grown and grown since the 1960s, all the while impeding education reform.