By Justine Rellosa Talk Radio News Service A top official with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) said Monday that it is imperative for the nation's school systems to improve. “We have to get into the business of turning around those low-effective schools...You can’t just serve a few students, you have to be able to service thousands of students," said DOE Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Jim Shelton during a speech at the Close-Up Foundation, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. that aims to help students from all over the world to become informed and engaged citizens. Shelton discussed the “Investing in Innovation Fund” (i3), in which the Department of Education has allotted $650 million towards funding successful programs that can be replicated and sustained to benefit thousands of students through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA). “We want to be number one again by 2020,” said Shelton. “We need your ideas to complete that goal!” According to Shelton, both the federal government as well as states share bipartisan agreement on the need for better schools, and agree on the idea of making sure every student in the country has access to higher education.