NEPC Resources on Politics, Policy, and School Practices
ICYMI: NEPC’s Top Newsletters of 2023
The Conflict Over Parents’ Rights
Testing is Broken. Can This Bill Fix It?
NEPC Review: Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit: Economic Analysis (Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, June 2023)
A report examines the monetary costs and benefits of Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit (QEEC), a type of voucher policy that provides a public subsidy for families to pay for private school tuition. Though the report argues the QEEC provides a net fiscal benefit for the state budget, several methodological challenges limit the report’s usefulness—most notably, a lack of data about how many students per year actually switch from public to private schools because of the vouchers. If most of the vouchers are provided to students already planning to attend a private school, then the policy only subsidizes private school students with funding that could otherwise be returned to taxpayers or invested in the state’s public education system, which is open to all students. Because the report relies on unrealistic assumptions, its suggestion that program benefits outweigh costs is tenuous and risks misleading state education leaders.
Suggested Citation: Knight, D.S. (2023). NEPC review: Qualified education expense tax credit: Economic analysis. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/tax-credit
How Much Do You Know About School Vouchers?
NEPC Review: School Choice Is Not Enough: The Impact of Critical Social Justice Ideology in American Education (Manhattan Institute, February 2023)
A Manhattan Institute report presents results of a survey of U.S. adults aged 18-20 to determine the extent to which eight concepts the report equates with “critical social justice” (CSJ) theory—which the report frowns upon—are taught in schools. Because these CSJ concepts are being taught beyond public schools, the report argues that school choice is an ineffective option for shielding children. Given that the report's methods do not adequately isolate exposure in school from the many other sources in which young people encounter these eight concepts, and that no causal relationships are established, there is no support for the report’s highly intrusive policy recommendations.
Suggested Citation: Sleeter, C. & Garcia, D.R. (2023). NEPC review: School choice is not enough: The impact of critical social justice ideology in American education. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/csj
Educational Accountability 3.0: Beyond ESSA
NEPC Review: Assessing the National Landscape of Capital Expenditures for Public School Districts (Urban Institute, January 2023)
A report analyzes equity patterns of school capital investment, relying primarily on school district annual capital outlay data reported in the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data. It also examines which state policies may promote more progressive investment patterns. Confirming other studies, it finds that school district capital expenditures vary from year to year and from state to state, each state has a unique approach and mix of policies governing state support for local capital outlay, and capital outlay is rarely equal or progressive. The report also finds that states with policies that aim to equalize capital spending are more likely to provide more or equal capital outlay for students from low-income backgrounds. These findings are all well-supported, and the report’s recommendations provide useful insights for state and federal policy that will promote more progressive capital spending.
Suggested Citation: Vincent, J.M. (2023). NEPC review: Assessing the national landscape of capital expenditures for public school districts. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/capital
NEPC Review: The Economic Cost of the Pandemic: State by State (Hoover Institution, January 2023)
A report calculates the future economic burden that the pandemic has imposed through reduced student achievement levels. Under a set of assumptions about the link between achievement and earnings, this economic burden is projected to be very large, persistent, and variable across states. From there, the report contends that—to offset this achievement gap—schools need to be “made better” even as the report is silent on how schools can improve or if more funding is needed. Setting aside this exhortation, however, the report actually falls short of a full accounting of the total loss in children’s human capital from the pandemic. It focuses only on achievement deficits, failing to consider the other dimensions of human—and social—capital. Unfortunately, without a full reckoning or understanding of the damage the pandemic imposed on schoolchildren, it is unlikely that any policy responses will be adequate, efficient, or equitable.
NEPC Review: Off Track: An Assessment of Wisconsin’s Early Care and Learning System for Young Children (Badger Institute, September 2023)
A report presents data on early care and education trends in Wisconsin and concludes that government regulations have had the effects of limiting supply, decreasing parental choice in providers, and increasing costs. The report recommends increasing regulatory freedom, consolidating state agencies, and increasing parental rights over use of government childcare subsidies. The report should be applauded for continuing to spotlight the need for quality childcare and education. But because of significant methodological flaws and omission of important literature, its recommendations should be treated with extreme caution, if not avoided altogether.
NEPC Review: Empowering Parents with School Choice Reduces Wokeism in Education (Heritage Foundation, November 2022)
A Heritage Foundation report compares the amount of “wokeness” terminology in parent/student handbooks in charter schools with the level of charter school regulation in their states, and concludes that while charters represent a safe space away from “woke indoctrination” in public schools, further deregulation and less bureaucracy will allow that sector to truly respond to parent desires to avoid “leftist” curriculum. While apparently intended to tap into current turmoil, the report has at least five significant weaknesses. It assumes that parent/student handbooks are good proxies for curriculum; it completely ignores the diversity of parents and relevant research about what large proportions of parents actually want; it conflates correlation with causation; it relies on undefined conceptions of what constitutes “wokeness;” and it possibly uses cherry-picked data and methods that suit ideological bias. These shortcomings render the report useless for understanding or developing policy.
The Other CRT
It's Time to End Corporal Punishment
Teachers Welcome Deprofessionalization
NEPC Review: Priced Out of Public Schools: District Lines, Housing Access, and Inequitable Educational Options (Bellwether Education Partners, October 2021)
A Bellwether report attempts to examine the availability of low-income rental units in school districts to understand whether districts in the largest 200 metropolitan areas are accessible to families in poverty. While the report’s focus on the intersection of housing and education policy for students’ opportunities is commendable, it suffers from significant methodological shortcomings. One problem is that the report’s approach is disconnected from federal housing policy and research. In addition, and particularly problematic, the report is silent on how race and racism relate to housing access and educational opportunity. These concerns and others severely limit the report’s utility for informing social policy.
NEPC Review: How to Regulate Critical Race Theory in Schools: A Primer and Model Legislation (Manhattan Institute, August 2021)
The Manhattan Institute’s How to Regulate Critical Race Theory in Schools: A Primer and Model Legislation manufactures a case against Critical Race Theory (CRT), building on a foundation of right-wing talking points. The report offers model legislation to counter the purported CRT-inspired indoctrination in schools. This review examines some of the ways that the report mischaracterizes CRT. The review also explains how and why the model legislation might, if adopted, lead to anti-discrimination lawsuits. For these reasons, the Manhattan report does not provide serious guidance to lawmakers interested in understanding or legislating about issues related to race in schools.