Do you know who has been evaluating schools with more than just test scores for thirty-five years--in line with what @thomastoch.bsky.social has been calling for? Charter school authorizers! That and more in today's SCHOOLED. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/bothand-on...
Yeah, we are pretty bad at detecting what's really happening in real time.
it's funny that circa Race to the Top, the narrative was that nothing in education has worked—and that's why we need these reforms. It was Ravitch et al saying well scores have been going up. But now the narrative is that actually everything pre-RTTT ed reform did work after all!
FYI @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social @mattbarnum.bsky.social @jenjennings.bsky.social @matthewakraft.com @kevincarey1.bsky.social @alexanderrusso.bsky.social
In recent weeks, @charliebarone.bsky.social and @thomastoch.bsky.social have each written long-reads on where the Democrats should go on education. Today we bring their debate to SCHOOLED. Weigh in! schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/toch-v-bar...
@benjaminjriley.bsky.social Ugh, Ben, I'm so sorry for what you've been going through, and am sorry for your loss. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/w...
(Left to right) Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Labor and Regulation Marcia Hultman, South Dakota Department of Education Secretary Joe Graves, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden meet with press during McMahon’s, “Returning Education to the States” tour on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at McCrossan Boys Ranch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It's not quite as bad as Trump talking about the Iran War next to the Easter Bunny but still, I count this as a fail for Secretary McMahon's advance team.
@alexanderrusso.bsky.social @mattbarnum.bsky.social @carajackson.bsky.social @danagoldstein.bsky.social @mpolikoff.bsky.social @jenjennings.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social
Sarah is not afraid to speak the truth about the blue states, who tend to spend more (lots more) than Mississippi and are getting much worse results thanks to the power of the teachers unions and unwillingness to embrace accountability.
WEEKEND LISTEN: Sarah Mervosh on The Daily
on Mississippi's reading reforms www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/p...
That's an argument for state policies that boost teacher salaries, like Texas's Teacher Incentive Allotment.
We are lucky to be more than a think tank. We also oversee high-poverty charter schools in Ohio, which keeps us grounded in how hard the real-world work is.
Thanks for reading!
Student outcomes!
But also: We could pay teachers more if we let class sizes rise modestly. So weird that the unions don't prioritize that.
I want the country to experience an educational transformation as big as Mississippi’s has been. It starts with an understanding of what drove Mississippi’s success.
Thanks, @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social, for this boost of my piece in the Atlantic about my new report.
TODAY'S MUST READ, via @rachelanncanter.bsky.social @progressivepolicy.org
States Are Learning the Wrong Lesson from the ‘Mississippi Miracle’ www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yup. Because "regular parents and teachers" don't have to wrestle with the tradeoffs.
in education, I sometimes think class-size reduction is the perfect example of this phenomenon (think tanks v. regular people). You can't find anyone in the D.C. think tank world who is for big cuts in class size, but regular parents and teachers love this idea.
FYI @alexanderrusso.bsky.social @mattbarnum.bsky.social @benjaminjriley.bsky.social @carajackson.bsky.social @kevincarey1.bsky.social @larryferlazzo.bsky.social @joshcowenmi.bsky.social @chingos.bsky.social @mpolikoff.bsky.social @robertkelchen.com @conorpwilliams.bsky.social
Think Tanks Have Defeated Democracy
"The archetypical nonprofit is now no longer a church or soup kitchen but rather a vague educational organization."
This is brutal! (Says the education policy think tank president)
www.palladiummag.com/2026/04/02/t...
Alas, yes, the competition IS fierce. Check this out. We used to care about reducing teenaged pregnancy...I guess not anymore?
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
If you told me Andrew Tate invented this policy to kneecap women, I would believe you.
Among the Worst Ideas Ever
And the competition is fierce
Meaning that he's a Democrat with a moderate brand who is nonetheless terrible on charter schools, school choice, etc. etc. and hugs the teachers unions tight.
On education reform, Andy Beshear appears to be a Joe Biden Democrat. That's not good!
That's true about DC. Though some of the credit goes to a Republican Congress in the 1990s for the legislation that created an excellent charter school sector.
"National commentators often miss something important: There are more reform-minded Democrats than they realize...D.C.—bluer than any state—has built one of the country’s most ambitious and under-recognized reform ecosystems...w/real gains to show for it."
www.educationnext.org/how-democrat...
How to Teach What It Means to Be American (Opinion): As America turns 250, Richard Kahlenberg discusses how schools can cultivate a common identity.
This is why we need automatic enrollment!
See the post, from my great Fordham Institute colleague Jessica Poiner, here: fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/comment...