Fred Hess, the sharp director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, has written an insightful piece on the failure of educational “innovation.”

For those unwilling to tackle all seven, double-spaced pages, here is the gist of the argument:

Educational employees face extensive procedural requirements adopted to ensure that educators are conforming to the wishes of lawmakers. Given substantial penalties for violating statutes or offending elected lawmakers, and the lack of rewards for effective performance, public servants have incentives to hew to legal and procedure requirements–even if they deem such measures to be inefficient or flawed. Employees who respect rules and procedures tend to prosper, while entrepreneurial individuals who violate norms or offend powerful constituencies have difficulty gaining authority. It is not that bureaucracies are devoid of entrepreneurial personalities, but that these individuals are discouraged and find their professional progress impeded. Altering this reality requires deliberate steps to change policy and culture.