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May 15, 2025

The Pandemic Is Over. It’s Time for Schools to Get the Message.

More than five years after the covid-19 pandemic began, the havoc it wreaked on American students and schools is alarmingly clear by nearly every measure. But there is one glaring exception: high school graduation rates. Even as test scores cratered, public school enrollments plummeted, and chronic absenteeism — the percentage of students missing at least one-tenth of the school…

May 14, 2025

Libraries Are Doing the Work—Let’s Fund Them Accordingly

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting libraries of all sizes—from quiet rural branches to vibrant urban hubs. Each one tells a story—not just through the books on its shelves, but through the people it brings together. Whether through informal social gatherings, intergenerational conversations, or access to essential services, libraries are…

May 7, 2025

Republicans Unveil Plan to Rein in Student Debt and Waste in Higher Education

In a significant development for higher education policy, House Republicans have unveiled a sweeping proposal to reform student loans and financial aid through the federal budget reconciliation process. This effort, which complements President Trump’s recent executive order on accreditation reform, signals a renewed push to rethink how the federal government supports students and holds institutions accountable for…

May 7, 2025

Did ‘China Shock’ Throw Millions of Americans Out of Work?

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that “3.7 million Americans lost their jobs” due to the “China Shock”—the increased import competition occurring after China was granted membership in the World Trade Organization. He cites research by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson, linking to two of their papers. But it appears…

May 5, 2025

What’s in House Republicans’ Student Loan Overhaul

House Republicans have introduced a comprehensive student loan overhaul as part of the broader budget reconciliation process. Known as the “Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan,” the package of reforms aims to save hundreds of billions of dollars through new student loan limits, changes to the repayment system, and policies to hold colleges accountable for their outcomes. If enacted,…

April 30, 2025

The Student Loan Bubble Is about to Pop

At the outset of the covid-19 pandemic, federal student-loan borrowers won what appeared to be a reprieve. That five-year pause on payments and interest accumulation is now shaping up to be a curse in disguise. Last week, the Trump administration drew criticism for announcing that the Education Department would resume involuntary collections next month. But the squeeze…

April 25, 2025

Trump Administration Announces Plan to Get Borrowers Paying Student Loans Again

The U.S. Department of Education announced on Monday that it would resume involuntary collections of defaulted federal student loans on May 5. The announcement means that borrowers who have loans in default could see their tax refunds seized or wages garnished. While many borrowers and advocacy organizations will oppose the move, resuming collections is necessary to incentivize loan repayment….

April 24, 2025

It’s About Time: Bring Back Those Student Loan Collections 

This week, the Department of Education announced that on May 5 it will begin collecting on defaulted student loans. This will be the first time since March 2020 that borrowers who have either chosen not to or been unable to make their student loan payments will once again face significant financial consequences for their delinquency.   Borrowers…

April 4, 2025

How One State Improved Its NAEP Scores

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress results had a lot of bad news, but there were some scattered bright spots. Louisiana was one of them. In fact, the Pelican State was the only state in the nation that outperformed its pre-pandemic 4th grade reading scores on the 2024 NAEP. Over the past two…

April 3, 2025

The dangerous myth that poverty is the cause of child abuse

Why does child abuse happen? A new public service announcement says most people think it’s a “bad parent problem,” but the ad suggests “the root causes may be different than you think.” This message from Prevent Child Abuse America goes on to explain that child abuse is the result of families’ lack of financial resources — a…