Given what you want to do, I don't think the JD will serve any purpose other than putting yourself in more debt. A MPP in educational policy alone is sufficient

Hardly.

Last time I checked the employment section of the paper, there was no section that said "Education Policy Crafter Wanted." This is a political field which means that you either have to have excellent credentials as an expert (PhD and well published and admin experience) to be appointed to a relevant position or work your way up the political totem pole. Either a JD or an MPP would might get you going in that sphere, but its going to be an uphill battle.

In conclusion, if you make a series of correct decisions over the next fifteen to twenty years, you may be able to do what you've stated.

sufficient probably wasn't the right word for me to use

anyway, with an MPP, I don't think it would be too difficult to get a job as a LC for a congressman and work your way into an LA position that covers education within a few years... or work for an organization like the NEA

Sorry, what does LC stand for?

I'm in an MPP program and you definitely don't NEED a JD to do policy. That said, it depends on exactly what you want to do. If you want to do non-profit work, don't waste your money on law school. If you want to work on the hill, you could go either way.

I want to lobby and while a JD isn't necessary, it will help me get where I want to go faster (signaling, for you econ types). I also think a JD will give me a more complete perspective on policy making. I work in the health policy field, and have certainly noticed that most of the "important people" have JD's. I don't think that's just because it's the lobbyist pedigree; I think the perspective gives you an advantage to influencing the lawmaking process.

Also, in my experience, it's not that easy to get an LC job especially on the Senate side. There are tons of people vying for those jobs. Not only do you have to have the credentials and be good at what you do, you need to know the right people too.

One final thing- my biggest piece of advice to anyone who thinks they want to do policy work is: work in a policy/ political field first. (You may very well have experience in education policy already, in which case ignore this.) There is so much more to learn "on the ground" than can ever be taught in a classroom. And what is taught in the classroom is usually a good academic exercise, but not really how things actually operate. I'm not saying the MPP is a waste of time; in fact, I think it's an excellent degree to teach someone how to formulate and implement policy ideas in a more systematic, well thought out kind of way. You will definitely get more out of it if you can apply it to what you already know about the political process.