This NY Times article explores the Finnish educational system, of which Tyler Cowen over at Marginal Revolution points out:

1. Finnish children do not start school until they are seven years old. Most Finnish children do start day care from about the age of one, given that most mothers work.
2. Educational spending is a very modest $5,000 per student per year.
3. There are few if any programs for gifted children.
4. Class sizes often approach 30.
5. “Finland topped a respected international [educational] survey last year, coming in first in literacy and placing in the top five in math and science.”
6. Finnish teachers all have a Master’s degree or more.
7. Finnish teachers all enjoy a very high social status.
8. Reading to children, telling them folk tales, and going to the library are all high status activities.
9. TV programs are often in English, and subtitled, which further supports reading skills. (This should also serve as a jab to those who complain about the global spread of American TV shows.)

Mr. Cowen’s post includes a number of good links to other sources reflecting the success of the Finnish education model, and then he provides the following insightful observation:

The United States performs remarkably well when it harnesses status and approbational incentives in the right direction. We have done this for business entrepreneurship, but we are not close when it comes to education. When it comes to economics, we have to move away from our near-exclusive emphasis on monetary incentives.

Given the tradition of local control over public schools in the United States, is it possible for the federal government to initiate and sustain the policies necessary to create the incentives necessary to improve public education in this country?