Christopher T. Cross is chairman of Cross & Joftus, an educational consulting firm, where he contributes his considerable strategic planning, policy analysis, and development skills. Cross also serves as a consultant to the Broad Foundation and is a distinguished senior fellow with the Education Commission of the States. Previously, he was a senior fellow with the Center for Education Policy. During his 32 years in Washington, D.C., he served in both the executive and legislative branches, as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, the Republican staff director of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and a deputy assistant secretary in the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare.In 2014, Cross published the second edition of his critically acclaimed best seller, Political Education: Setting the Course for State and Federal Education Policy, with new chapters and important new insights into future education policy. Cross draws on his own experience in Washington, along with research and interviews, to present a highly readable history of federal education policy from WWII to the Obama administration. The book highlights the key players and events who helped shape federal policy and demonstrates how federal policy has been a constant influence on what states and local districts do.