By Rowan McGarry-Williams (PO’ 21) For many Americans, the relationship between home and school seems simple enough: they live in a neighborhood and they go to their neighborhood’s public school. But this simplicity belies an entire, constructed network of policy decisions. For example: how does one define a neighborhood, or a school zone? Why do…
By Andy Liu (HMC ’23) During the ongoing 2020 Democratic primaries, many candidates have proposed varying levels of tuition-free public college, ranging from moderate proposals involving free community college, some level of student loan forgiveness, or the complete elimination of tuition and fees at all public colleges. Yet, while these plans have come under fire…
Rowan McGarry-Williams (PO ’21) The integration of American public schools, once at the center of education reform, today tends to be overshadowed by debates over charter schools, accountability, and funding. Despite extensive research on the widespread benefits of integration, our schools are more racially and economically segregated now than they have been in decades, with…
By Calla Li (PO ’22) American universities across the country have long regarded international students as a means of not just increasing campus diversity, but increasing revenue too, as international students receive (on average) far less financial aid than their American peers. In the 2017-2018 school year alone, 1.1 million international students representing over 100…
By Musa Kamara (PO’22) 2019 has thus far seen the emergence of an ever-growing field of candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump. Among the field are individuals with a variety of personalities, ideologies, and levels of visibility; senators, representatives, governors, and mayors all run alongside one another. One of the more well-known figures in…
Liz Murray (PO ’21) Cafeteria food has become as much a part of the American public-school experience as recess and standardized testing. The National School Lunch Program, while perhaps only famous among children for chicken nuggets and mystery meat, has been serving meals to countless elementary, middle, and high school students since 1946. In fact,…
By James Dail (CMC ’20) Education in the United States is in desperate need of an overhaul. It is a long-recognized phenomenon that students in the United States underperform their peers in the rest of the developed world. In some cases, American students are beaten by students in countries that are less socioeconomically developed, such…
By Katya Pollock (PO ’21) The New York University School of Medicine recently announced that it would offer full-tuition scholarships to all current and future students, regardless of need or merit. The school’s associate dean of admissions and financial aid presented the new tuition plan as a move to improve the school’s economic accessibility: “what…
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) A product of frustrations with state disinterest in public education over the past decade, teachers’ strikes began in March 2018 in West Virginia, and in April 2018 in Kentucky and Oklahoma These protests and walkouts, while presumably about state budgets, may also be in response to the teachers’ frustrations regarding…
By Bryce Wachtell (PO ’21) Last December, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—the first major piece of legislation under the Republican-controlled 115th congress. The bill will have a major impact on the lives of all Americans in a variety of ways, but—in the most general of terms—it will work to substantially lower and somewhat…