Immigration is an Education Issue

by Janette Martinez    Latinxs* are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and make up the largest percentage of non-white school-age children. Latinx students also make up a third of public charter school students. Latinx adults are likely to be immigrants and trail other ethnic groups in education. In 2015, about half

Five Matchups Worth Watching in March Madness (…and We Aren’t Talking Basketball)

by: Konrad Mugglestone   March Madness hype is at a fever pitch. 68 teams will converge in cities across the United States to vie for the NCAA National Championship. In this period of intense school pride, where metaphorical Davids get to face (and sometimes slay) Goliaths, it can be easy to forget the real head-to-head

My First-Generation Perspective

By Dana Laurens     Last month, I had the privilege of speaking at the annual 1vyG Conference–held at the University of Pennsylvania–on a panel alongside Dr. Sean Vereen, Dr. Laura Perna, and Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab. 1vyG is a weekend-long gathering that provides a unique opportunity for over 500 first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students enrolled in

First in Family, First to Graduate

By Emily Labandera Fact: first-generation college students, those whose parents have never attended college or received a degree, pursue postsecondary education at lower rates than similarly prepared non-first generation peers. Because of the financial rewards associated with higher education, the first-generation enrollment gap undermines economic productivity as well as mobility and worsens income inequality. We

Progressive Higher Education Reform Now

by Michael Dannenberg When it comes to federal aid and accountability for results, progressive advocates should have three bottom line demands for the pending Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization: (1) A sizable federal-state partnership designed to support quality, “college promise” initiatives that leverages improvements in K-12 education, boosts on-time completion, and in turn, ensures sustained improvement in

Hill Briefing: Charter Facility Needs 2/26/18

Save The Date! Did you know that public charter schools serve more than 3 million students nationwide, but recent survey data showed that parents of as many as 5.5 million students would enroll them in a charter school if location and capacity were not an issue? Did you know that the inability to finance the

Do the Nation’s Wealthiest Universities Live Up to their Tax-Exempt Promise?

By Konrad Mugglestone At the end of 2017, as the GOP tax reform bill was being debated, universities with multi-billion-dollar endowments, such as MIT and Harvard, were aggressively lobbying against taxation on their massive accounts. MIT’s president, Rafael Reif, lamented, “It will reduce MIT’s ability to undertake exactly the kind of activities that Congress wants

TOPS “Extra Effort”

by Michael Dannenberg There is an answer to Louisiana’s struggle with insufficient funding and rigid design of the popular Taylor Opportunity Program Scholarship (TOPS), but it requires a hard decision and compromise that politicians in Baton Rouge like Washington prefer to avoid. Unless Louisiana is going to increase or stabilize TOPS funding, which it should,

The “Earned Aid” Scholarship Formula, Explained

by Konrad Mugglestone and Michael Dannenberg While testifying before a special joint legislative commission in Louisiana this morning, Education Reform Now’s Michael Dannenberg recommended the state adopt an altered method of measuring merit in awarding state student financial aid. The method combines assessments of need and academic performance. We call it ‘earned aid’ much like

ESSA’s Financial “Sleeper Provision” Reminds Us ESSA is about Equity

By Dana Laurens   Round two of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan reviews is well underway at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), but one little known provision of the now not-so-new ESSA law has yet to be implemented. Beginning next school year, states are required to publicly report actual per-pupil spending