Federal Policy

U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) speaking at a meeting of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Don’t Plan on That Federal Education Spending Spree

Ambitious plans to make community college “free” or pre-K “universal” will have to be radically downsized.
Photo of Sue Renner

The Problems With Biden’s Universal Pre-K Proposal

"The proposed new investments in universal pre-K are not in step with the realities of the existing mixed-delivery system."
Sen. Joe Manchin

Manchin Just Downsized the Democrats’ Massive Education Spending Plans

Free community college, universal pre-k may be trimmed to win passage of package.
Illustration of coins falling into a school-shaped piggy bank

Let schools, not district offices, decide how to spend some federal aid

Pushing dollars directly to individual schools would increase transparency, public engagement
P-EBT graphic

The Government Is Paying Public School Parents Billions of Dollars to Keep Their Children Home

Family would lose $409 a month in Pandemic-EBT benefits by moving 3 children to in-person from remote
President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021.

With Federal Relief Dollars on the Way, Districts Face Big Decisions

Reduce class sizes, lengthen the school year, provide tutoring—or let principals decide?
The president of United Teachers Los Angeles, Alex Caputo-Pearl, center, joins unionized teachers at a rally in the city in 2018.

A Rolling National Teacher Strike Is Why Schools Are Closed

Context isn’t just coronavirus, but years of union activism and potential for tens of billions in federal funds from Biden.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by a military honor guard as they board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

Trump Education Reform Legacy: Too Little, Too Late

President discovered education reform in closing stretch of re-election campaign
Cover of The 1776 Report

Biden Eliminated the 1776 Commission But Not the Need for ‘Patriotic’ Education

"Portraying the American tale as an endless parade of horribles isn’t any more honest than cartoonish accounts of American wonderfulness."

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