Public service reforms often provoke political backlash. Can they also yield political benefits for the politicians who champion them? We study a Wisconsin law that weakened teachers' unions and liberalized pay, prompting mass protests. Exploiting its staggered implementation across school districts, we find that the reform cut union revenues,…

In recent years, a scientific approach to reading education has gained traction due to the joint efforts of educators, parents, and state leaders. This movement for better reading instruction has helped to fuel a wave of legislation to address widespread and persistent reading deficits of American students. While reading difficulties cut across…

Transparency is a fundamental trait that teachers must exhibit in their district and on their campus in order to understand the mission and goals of the district and campus. Educators need proper training and guidance from district and campus leaders to establish a collective efficacy for the benefit of student success. As school districts find…

In 2011, Wisconsin curtailed public employee collective bargaining through legislation (Wisconsin Act 10) that limited the scope of bargaining to total base wages, rather than the specifics of teacher salary schedules, and tied total base wage increases to the rate of inflation. By restricting the scope of bargaining, Act 10 provided Wisconsin…

The governor of California recently proposed what he is calling an equity multiplier to be added to California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The proposal was a response to Assembly Bill 2774 (AB 2774), in which advocates called for resources to close the opportunity gap for Black students by adding a new statewide "lowest performing…

State legislatures and education agencies have increasingly been turning to high-quality instructional materials (HQIMs) as a key lever for systemic improvement of student learning. Louisiana's accomplishments in this area have been particularly noteworthy, evidenced by modest improvements in student outcomes, "large and intriguing…

Minnesota has garnered national attention as the epicenter of significant policing problems, most notably following the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. In the wake of this incident, cultural competency, characterized by an understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and the ability to interact effectively across…

This report is the thirteenth annual state charter school laws rankings report produced by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In each report, they analyze, score, and rank each state's charter school law against their model charter school law. The purpose is to determine which states have created the statutory and regulatory…

Restraint and seclusion are frequently misused in schools, leading to harmful outcomes for students. There is currently no federal law regulating these practices, which has led to inconsistencies in state and district policies. This policy paper aims to provide a brief background on current definitions, case law, and policies and provide teachers…

Amid debates about CRT in education, this paper critically analyses laws that have reportedly sought to expand 'education on racism, bias, the contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups to U.S. history, or related topics' with the hypothesis that there would be little evidence of anti-racist ideology in policies pertaining to curriculum.…

With its direct impact on admissions procedures and (in)direct impact on campus climate, affirmative action bans can potentially influence student retention. This study uses a national dataset to examine the relationship between affirmative action bans in Oklahoma and New Hampshire and retention rates at public colleges and universities. Our…

The Massachusetts Innovation Schools initiative authorized educators to operate with increased autonomy and flexibility. This descriptive case study examines the early experiences of teachers in one innovation school. We explore the innovations teachers leveraged to build capacity, with particular attention to how they enacted teacher leadership…

This article explores introduced tenure bans, meaning state-level legislation proposing eliminating tenure protections within all or part of a public higher education system. We describe such bills 2012-2022 and explore state-level political, economic, social, and higher education conditions associated with introducing a tenure ban. Tenure bans…

The largest system of higher education in the nation, the California Community Colleges (CCC) has disappeared more than one million students in the past 15 years, a 35% decrease in its student body since 2008 despite California's population increase. This dramatic shrinking of the CCC system was not an accident. It was manufactured by a vast…

This book contributes to critical university studies by examining the corporatization of higher education at the University of Alberta, placing this experience in a broad comparative context, and drawing attention to aspects of the politics of knowledge that have often been overlooked in this genre. The chapters in this collection provide a…