Will the New Education R&D Bill Spark the Innovation Schools Desperately Need?

In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have introduced the New Essential Education Discoveries (NEED) Act, aimed at revolutionizing how the U.S. invests in education innovation. The bill proposes a new National Center for Advanced Development in Education—akin to DARPA but for schools—within the Institute for Education Sciences. Its goal? To fund high-risk, high-reward education R&D that drives breakthrough learning models and technologies.

With rising college closures and education leaders seeking bold solutions post-COVID, the stakes for smarter R&D couldn’t be higher. Compared to the Department of Defense’s over $143 billion RDT&E spend, federal investment in education research and development is comparatively modest. But will this bill—and others like it—actually spark the innovation schools desperately need?

Can a federally-funded innovation engine jumpstart education R&D—and what will it take to actually implement breakthrough ideas in schools?

In this episode of The Future of Education, host Michael Horn is joined by Daniel Curtis, Governor’s Fellow at the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy, to unpack the promise and limits of this emerging effort to supercharge R&D in education.

Key takeaways from the conversation…

• The Innovation Gap: Why education R&D remains dramatically underfunded—and how that shortfall stifles progress compared to sectors like healthcare and defense.

• The DARPA Debate: What the proposed education innovation center could learn from DARPA—and why the analogy may fall short in a system with 14,000+ school districts.

• What It’ll Take to Scale: How model providers, lab schools, flexible regulations, and targeted funding could finally give innovations a fighting chance to thrive in U.S. schools.

Daniel Curtis is a policy strategist and education innovation expert currently serving as a Governor’s Fellow at the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy. He has authored education research, supported high-impact policy initiatives, and led content production for influential platforms like The Future of Education and Future U podcasts. With prior experience as a high school teacher and consultant, he brings a unique blend of classroom insight, policy acumen, and cross-sector collaboration to advancing personalized learning and workforce development.