Incentivizing investment in education reform

With billions of dollars going to fund R&D in clean technology -- and hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the US Department of Energy, why can't the US Department of Education follow their lead?

Innovation often comes from the private sector IN PARTNERSHIP with the public sector. One example that comes to mind is the Internet -- a publicly incubated idea that was transformed for social good, commerce, entertainment, etc. thanks to entrepreneurial investments.

Unfortunately, the education sector including many well-intentioned education reformers overlook the value of private capital in the education space. Just check out the National Journal's expert blog question this week. The responses are a sure sign that many in education (and education reform) are missing the point -- innovation flows from incentivized investments by private, public and philanthropic sources.