Kara Arundel reports for K-12 Dive on two Thursday sessions at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education, where panelists described U.S. education as at a pivotal moment—full of reform opportunities but also challenges around equitable access, pressure to innovate, and AI risks. In a session tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary, speakers expressed optimism that the system is preparing students for college, career, and civic life. Education Department official Kirsten Baesler said she sees students with a growing sense of purpose, stressed that attendance and effort matter (“it shouldn’t be an easy pathway to achieve the American dream”), and argued the one-size-fits-all 50-minute-class model can’t serve 54 million children. Strada Education Foundation’s Stephen Moret emphasized that educational pathways to opportunity should be attainable for all, and both voiced cautious optimism about AI’s effect on future jobs.
A separate panel examined expanding school choice, with panelists agreeing the growth of public choice, private choice, and models like microschools over 30 years has been positive—EdChoice’s Robert Enlow noted 75 private choice options now operate across 34 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Jim Blew of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coalition said good choice systems give families information and hold schools accountable for performance. DFER CEO Jorge Elorza said the movement empowers families and spurs improvement: “It does introduce a healthy level of competition… creates a system that is more student-centered, creates a system that’s more innovation-serving.” But panelists cautioned that access and outcomes vary widely and that choice alone doesn’t guarantee quality. The Center on Reinventing Public Education’s Robin Lake framed choice as “risk and opportunity,” urging state leaders to listen to families while recognizing that many will stay in neighborhood schools and that “districts are not going to magically vanish.”