Much has happened in federal education policy over the last few weeks. The Obama administration has approved twenty-six states for greater flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act, released a plan to improve career and technical education, and announced its Race to the Top District competition. Additionally, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have begun work on federal education spending bills.

The Alliance held a webinar on July 19 featuring members of its federal advocacy team who presented updates on these developments in federal policy and their implications for states. The webinar provided a high school perspective as it relates to the aforementioned polices; however, panelists have a variety of expertise and answered questions from the audience related to other secondary school practices.