REPORT RELEASE: A Democratic Guide to Public Charter Schools

By Charles Barone and Marianne Lombardo Today we’re issuing an issue brief we’ve called “A Democratic Guide to Public Charter Schools.” This issue brief offers a reminder that throughout their history, public charter schools have had strong roots in progressivism and that the current public charter school sector, on the whole, reflects Democratic values of equalizing opportunity and

ESSA Implementation Update: Raking Up ESSA Policy and Politics

By Charles Barone This is the 15th ESSA implementation update in a series. To see all posts on ESSA implementation, click here. To see our interactive 50-state ESSA implementation map, click here. Arizona. The state continues to solicit public comment on the draft plan it published in September (claiming to be the first state to do so) and says it will submit

The New York State Education Department Can’t Handle the Truth

By Marianne Lombardo and Nicole Brisbane   Let’s be clear about something. The New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) actions are probably more about adults saving face than helping kids.     When NYSED announced on Wednesday that just one of the ten schools on the state’s persistently struggling list (see our earlier report School Interventions

New Teacher Prep Regulation

By Michael Dannenberg   The Obama administration will release its final teacher preparation reform regulation today.  It is pretty much along the lines discussed in the past. States are to set up teacher preparation reporting and accountability systems that are outcome-oriented. They’ll have to look at K-12 outcomes associated with specific teacher preparation programs — including

2016 | First Presidential Debate Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump on Education | Part 3 – Public Charter Schools, Parental Choice, and Quality

By Charles Barone and Marianne Lombardo This is the 3rd in a series of pre-debate blog posts. To see Part 1,  click here. To see Part 2, click here. Public charter schools came up several times in the Democratic primaries, with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders making comments that concerned charter supporters. Clinton course-corrected subsequently, emphasizing her strong support

Senators Coons and Isakson Aspire to Higher Education Reform

By Mary Nguyen Barry     Today, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) unite in their aspiration to reform higher education, picking up an idea we most recently floated here (pp. 57) and earlier here and here. While the need for a postsecondary degree has never been greater, our nation’s colleges face gross inequities in their capacity

2016 | First Presidential Debate: Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump on Education | Part 1: One of Them is a Wonk

  By Charles Barone and Marianne Lombardo Last night, Lester Holt, the moderator for the first Presidential debate on Monday, September 26,  announced the topics he will cover with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump: “America’s Direction,” “Achieve Prosperity” and “Securing America.” They’re pretty nebulous so, who knows, maybe even education will come up. Here’s a rundown of the candidates’

Attention Returns to College Endowments

By Michael Dannenberg College endowments are back in the news. The House tax committee turned a spotlight to the issue yesterday at a Capitol Hill hearing. The committee and its Senate counterpart already have a standing request for information in to the 56 richest colleges and universities in the country. Hopefully going forward the politicians

A Money-Back Guarantee for College?

By Mary Nguyen Barry Should college come with a money-back guarantee? A recent Brookings op-ed argues, “Yes,” and highlights several innovative colleges offering prospective students guarantees of on-time graduation, employment, and post-graduation earnings. But while we relish the thought that some colleges seem to be prioritizing student outcomes over their own bottom-lines, some of these self-initiated

Higher Education Reform Now

By Michael Dannenberg Do you think higher education is held accountable for poor outcomes? No? Me neither. On one end of the spectrum, we have high-quality, wealthy colleges reaping the benefits of public support despite serving an unacceptably low number of working class and low-income students. On the other end, we have significantly underperforming and