Vicki E. Murray-Alger is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and author of more than forty education policy studies, including Failure: The Federal Miseducation of America's Children, and co-author of Lean Together: An Agenda for Smarter Government, Stronger Communities, and More Opportunities for Women, Short-Circuited: The Challenges Facing the Online Learning Revolution in California, and Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice. She lives in Arizona with her husband David.