In this report, part of an annual series that began in 1997, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reviews its activities under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. The report covers public laws enacted and legislation considered by the Congress in 2008 that would impose federal mandates on state, local, or tribal governments or on the…

Despite significant increases in spending on child care and education during the last decade, PISA scores suggest that educational performance remains static, uneven and strongly related to parents' income and background. Better educational performance could improve labour market outcomes, raise growth, lower the consequences of a disadvantaged…