Vicki Murray (Alger) is the Paul W. Locke Research Fellow for Education at Washington Policy Center. She is the author of Failure: The Federal ‘Misedukation’ of America’s Children, an in-depth history of the U.S. Department of Education and federal education policy. Vicki is a co-author of eight additional books, as well as nearly 80 policy studies. She has advised the U.S. Department of Education, policymakers in 45 states, and provided expert testimony before state legislative education committees. Her research has also been used in educational choice program litigation, including the successful defense of country’s first tax-credit scholarship program in the U.S. Supreme Court. Vicki’s research and commentary on education policy have been widely published and cited in leading public policy outlets such as Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, Stanford University’s Hoover Digest, Education Week, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, as well as national news media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, and US News & World Report. She has also appeared on the Fox News Channel, Global News, local ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS affiliates, in addition to news radio programs across the country. Prior to her career in education policy, Vicki taught college-level courses in American politics, English composition and rhetoric, and early British literature. She received her Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Dallas, where she was an Earhart Foundation Fellow. Vicki lives in Seattle and hails from Scottsdale, Arizona. She is dedicated to expanding educational opportunities for all families, regardless of their income or address. These include public district and charter school choices, as well as private, home, virtual, and parent-tailored options made possible through education savings accounts.