{new} The rate at which teachers leave the profession has been remarkably stable for the last 40 years. Read my latest for @educationnext.bsky.social --> www.educationnext.org/are-teachers...

I'd also add that I wish we saw more federal leadership on education, at least bully pulpit work drawing attention to the fact that we need to do better for the nation's students.

I do feel like we've turned a corner based on the reaction to stories like those about the UCSD report, but I'll believe that things have really changed when we see policy changes. Also, I'm sure my views are colored by living in WA state, which is very anti testing.

Episode 999 altert! I love the year end summaries, especially when it's about ed policy/research. And while I might change the emphases - a bit less optimistic - this one is great. 👇 fordhaminstitute.org/national/res...

Workers are feeling increasingly anxious about losing their jobs in a tough labor market...and those with higher education levels aren't exempt. The prospect of AI being used for job cuts is scaring people. www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Smart, from Josh Barro, especially: "Many of the people who have pushed this anti-assessment agenda are the same people who lament declining political support for educational institutions and declining funding for their activities."

Four day school weeks are featured prominently in my upcoming book about bad ideas in education because they are one of the absolute worst ideas in education.

Of all the terrible ideas... Toledo Public Schools is considering a four-day week. This is a TERRIBLE move for rural schools, but at least you can understand the argument wrt long bus rides. But an urban district? Despicable! www.toledoblade.com/local/educat...

I enjoyed joining @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social to discuss the new mythologies of higher education. Net tuition is not soaring, the value of a degree is not plummeting and neither is four-year college enrollment. educationgadflyshow.substack.com/p/is-the-col...

My Fordham Institute colleagues David Griffith and Jill Hoppe on a recent study by Michael Hartney & @dmhouston.bsky.social Better Schools Start with Better School Board Elections www.the74million.org/article/bett... @the74.bsky.social @mpolikoff.bsky.social

@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social with a nice roundup of responses to that "debunking" of the Mississippi Miracle (which was pretty thin gruel, I agree). Really enjoying this newsletter - worth the (free) subscription. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/debunking-...

Wow, good for Governor Polis! Colorado governor plans to opt into Trump-endorsed initiative that some fear will lead to voucher program coloradosun.com/2025/12/05/c...

🔥🔥🔥

One of THE hardest conversations to have in progressive spaces is about supporting public ed and what that means. Part of that is accepting it's a conservative (small c) project and that means that sometimes, Conservatives (big C) are worth listening to and make good allies. Case in point.

What do knowledgeable GOP ed leaders think of Linda "A1" McMahon moving Ed programs to the Dept of Labor? "absurd on its face."

A smart conservative points out the obvious

Longtime GOP staffer Vic Klatt comes out of retirement to write: Moving K–12 programs to the Department of Labor is neither smart nor conservative fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...

AGREE OR DISAGREE? A pro-ed-reform president would cure the blue-state blues schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/a-pro-ed-r... @conorpwilliams.bsky.social @cedr.bsky.social @mpolikoff.bsky.social @mattbarnum.bsky.social @kevincarey1.bsky.social @matthewakraft.com @chingos.bsky.social

Man, I’ve been saying it for some time now, but at some point the urban ed reform ppl have GOT to get talking to the YIMBY ppl and the urbanists ppl.

Yes. As I wrote to Mike, reformers shouldn't fetishize endless triangulations towards the perceived political center—not least because that center is nothing fixed. Serious progressive reform should be presented in strenuously progressive terms about fairness, justice, and access to opportunity.

Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza. Do you agree? schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...

Wait, Betsy DeVos was...right? Too bad the teacher wasn't armed. (It sounds like everyone is going to be OK)

3 schoolchildren seriously injured in grizzly bear attack in British Columbia www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

It’s a big deal IF the Dems don’t win or there are more pressing matters for them address.

Yes nothing like that “swift” recreation of an entire federal department that has existed and worked together for half a century. 🙄

I mean, either you think it matters that the federal government run in a rational, effective, cost-effective manner, or you don't. If you do, this is a bad idea in the "real world." It all trickles down to students eventually.

I can't agree, it will be a big deal to student loan borrowers, children in need, higher ed orgs, and so on. Just because it can be undone with another admin does not mean that many people won't be screwed over for long after AND the effects rolled back in a timely fashion, if ever.

Not sure if I agree with that. The big questions for me are whether the quality of service changes and whether operations become more or less efficient. There seems to be more downside risk than upside benefit over the next few years.

It's a huge waste of time and taxpayer money. www.newamerica.org/education-po...

Everyone is treating this like a big deal. IMO it's not...they will move some boxes (and people) around, and, if a Democrat wins in 2028, it will be swiftly undone. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

3) Hanushek and Rivkin found working conditions play a larger role in teacher retention between sites. They note a few areas of potential investment that would be more effective than salary increases: behavior supports and improved leadership to start. hanushek.stanford.edu/publications...

2) If early-career earnings for credentialed teachers are higher for those hired into teaching roles, it suggests that those who pursued other options were wooed by something other than salary. caldercenter.org/publications...

1) If teachers leaving the profession are typically earning less than they were in the classroom, that working conditions > compensation. Certainly this is complicated by some percentage of leavers who were going to leave no matter what. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Data on compensation vs. working conditions are mixed, as this excerpt from @aefpweb.bsky.social Live Handbook notes, but there are three studies that I find more persuasive on compensation vs. working conditions. livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

I don't agree that working conditions are more important than pay (these things are very difficult to compare) but it is true at some margin teachers prefer more support staff than higher salaries. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

I don't know that it's strange: the literature already points to working conditions playing a larger role than compensation in teachers' decision to change employers or leave the profession.

I wouldn't characterize the main point of school funding reform as boosting teacher salaries. It helps students - @kirabojackson.bsky.social's opening plenary at SREE covered that in great detail. The teacher compensation reform literature seems a bit more mixed. There's room for improvement.

I think that's partially right, but if anything the empirical evidence suggests unions limit this trend from being even more extreme edworkingpapers.com/sites/defaul...

exactly and many schools of choice actively market their small classes/staffing ratios. this trend appears to be a market response—which doesn't necessarily mean it's optimal!—as much as anything else.

The expensive private schools rich people send their kids to are full of moderate-salary teachers in very small classes.

it's also notable that the same trend (greater investment in people than salaries) show up in private schools. for better or worse this may reflect schools' response to what parents want.

what is the evidence that higher salaries are a better investment than more people? I think the research is mixed and unclear here. See eg www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Yes, but the structure of that investment matters. While raising teacher salaries across the board might increase teacher quality some, it's likely an investment that is a mile wide and inch deep. I'd invest in the pain points in the labor market, i.e., in some subjects and hard to staff schools. +👇

School funding reform has failed to boost teacher salaries, especially for those serving in high-need schools. Should we focus state advocacy efforts on teacher compensation reform instead? I say yes. What do you say?

Recognizing the success of past reforms shows what’s possible for #NJ and the U.S. in the decades ahead. @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social helpfully highlights the methods that led to the achievements of the 90s and aughts in this article for @the74.bsky.social: www.the74million.org/article/the-...

Point/counterpoint on AI in higher ed. John McWhorter: "These developments don’t keep me up at night." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... Anastasia Berg: "It is [the] seemingly benign functions [of AI] that are the most pernicious for developing minds." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

If you've ever had to deal with the maddening, expensive child care and preschool market, consider the strong possibility that Trump's education agenda will turn the entire K-12 school system into the same mess. My latest in @usatoday.com: www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...

cc: @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social since he's always saying we need more K-12 discourse here....

@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social: The remarkable education attainment gains of the school reform era