Dear Colleagues:


Earlier this week, the Cato Institute released a report <[link removed]> by Neal McCluskey detailing the effects of COVID-19 on K-12 private schools. McCluskey found that 132 temporary or permanent private school closures were related to the pandemic. Many of the private schools most adversely affected by the coronavirus were low-cost schools serving low-income communities.
McCluskey argues that the best solution is to level the financial playing field and allow education dollars to funds students instead of systems:
“Because COVID-19 has mainly shuttered already vulnerable institutions, a sustainable solution to the problem of closing private schools is not more one‐​off infusions of federal cash. It is for state and local governments to change how they fund education, moving away from putting dollars directly into public schools and allowing them to follow children to the educational options that families choose.”

McCluskey’s argument is resonating with many state policymakers as more than two thirds of the states <[link removed]> have introduced proposals this year which would provide greater access to schools of choice. In fact, West Virginia <[link removed]> enacted the most expansive education savings account program in the nation earlier this month.

Since April is the “Month of the Military Child,” I highlighted the importance of education savings accounts for military-connected children in the Daily Signal <[link removed]>.
“According to the American Enterprise Institute’s Return to Learn Tracker <[link removed]>, the states that house the largest active-duty military populations, with the exception of Texas, continue to provide instruction in the fully remote or hybrid models.
If these families had access to education savings accounts, they could enroll in private school options, increasing their chances of having access to in-person learning. Private schools have provided in-person instruction <[link removed]> more often during the pandemic than their public school counterparts,” I wrote

Teacher Training Doesn’t Ignore Issues of Race. Last week, AEI’s Frederick Hess and Heritage’s Lindsey Burke responded <[link removed]> to Robin DiAngelo’s claim in White Fragility that she could graduate from a teacher education program without discussing racism. Hess and Burke’s analysis shows that this claim is unfounded: 
“At the top-ranked education schools, 48 percent of faculty characterize diversity and race as a research interest or area of study, and 25 percent characterize it as their primary area of study. At the colleges of education that produce the most teachers each year, those numbers fall to 40 percent and 17 percent, respectively—a smidge lower, but still plenty high enough to render DiAngelo’s contention laughable,” they write.

You can read their study’s full analysis here <[link removed]>.

The Unfairness of Student Loan Forgiveness. Jonathan Butcher spoke to One News Now this week about federal proposals to forgive college students' loan debt. "What about those who did save up? What about those who did save money in a 529 <[link removed]>, or who did save money in a savings account, or who did borrow money from family without interest to pay their loans?" You can read more from the interview here <[link removed]>.

ICYMI

Butcher testified about school safety and student discipline before a Pennsylvania advisory board <[link removed]> that works with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights two years ago, and the board just released their final report. "Research demonstrates that leaving disruptive students in the classroom puts other students at risk and interferes with student learning," Jonathan wrote in his testimony, which is available in the advisory board's report here <[link removed]>.

Parents and educators should carefully consider how students are disciplined for his or her behavior, but policymakers put children at risk when lawmakers limit teachers' options for maintaining order in a classroom.
Warmly,



Jude Schwalbach
Research Associate and Project Coordinator
Center for Education Policy
Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity
The Heritage Foundation

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