K12

  • The Data Doesn’t Seem to Be Vouching for Vouchers

    The Data Doesn’t Seem to Be Vouching for Vouchers

    Arguments supporting private management of schools date back to the founding of the United States and have reflected a variety of ideological positions. The call for privatization policies like school vouchers intensified in the mid-20th century due largely to the assertions of economist Milton Friedman. Friedman proposed that the government…

  • How Does Compulsory Math Education Close the Racial Income Gap?

    How Does Compulsory Math Education Close the Racial Income Gap?

    STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education has been a national imperative for decades. More recent administrations have prioritized STEM in schools due to the rising importance of mathematical skills in the labor market. The American Competitive Initiative, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006, committed a…

  • Less Qualified and Less Diverse: Race-Neutral Affirmative Action Hurts Chicago’s Exam Schools

    Less Qualified and Less Diverse: Race-Neutral Affirmative Action Hurts Chicago’s Exam Schools

    Selective admissions high schools, or exam schools, have long been at the center of education policy debates due to their struggles in balancing fair enrollment and improving diversity. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Parents v. Seattle and Meredith v. Jefferson that using race as an admissions requirement is unconstitutional…