Tressa Pankovits, Co-Director of Reinventing America’s Schools Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, Priscila Dilley, Senior Officer at the Leadership Academy Network, and Dr. David Saenz, Chief of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at Fort Worth ISD come together to tell a unique and powerful story. The partnership between Leadership Academy Network, Fort Worth Independent School District, and Texas Wesleyan University epitomizes using the principles and practices of charter school authorizing to rethink improving public education more broadly.
issue: Education
How Postsecondary Online Education is Empowering Today’s Students
Today’s postsecondary students look different than they did 20 years ago. Their paths today are not as linear, with many students opting out of going to college right after high school. As a result, today’s students are more diverse than ever before: 34% are adults, over half are first-generation students, 22% are parents, and the majority of students are working while learning.
To create a new means of economic mobility for the diversifying student body, California established its first statewide online community college, Calbright College, in July 2018. Calbright was the first of its kind, an exclusively online community college, free of charge to Californians, and focused on helping students rapidly earn credentials for in-demand jobs. Enrollment numbers have skyrocketed in the last two years, going up 574% since July 2021, with 3,240 students currently enrolled at Calbright.
And these trends are not unique to this California community college. Interest and participation in online learning continues to grow, with 2020 seeing record enrollment. Between 2012 and 2019, the number of hybrid and distance-only students at traditional universities increased by 36%, while the pandemic rapidly accelerated that growth by an additional 92%. Today over half of postsecondary students are enrolled in at least one online course.
What’s more, research from Western Governor’s University (WGU), one of the largest online universities in the country, surveyed more than 3,000 students across nine diverse institutions including community colleges, private and public four-year institutions, and primarily online, not-for-profit colleges. First-generation learners surveyed were especially positive about online education, with more than three-quarters of these students, indicating they would be interested in taking online courses in the future. This response was nearly ten percentage points higher than their peers with college-educated parents.
The ability to learn anytime, anywhere — and often for a fraction of the cost — is clearly attractive for today’s students. Online learning offers them the flexibility to balance their academic pursuits with other responsibilities and commitments, allowing them to study at their own pace and on their own schedule. Online education has also eliminated many of the barriers associated with traditional campus-based programs — supporting students, who may be unable to relocate or commute to a physical campus. This factor is especially helpful in rural communities that are more remote allowing individuals to enroll in programs across the country without ever leaving their homes.
Online education has also evolved to meet the diverse needs of today’s students through innovative program structures and support services. Institutions now offer a wide range of online degrees and certificates while also providing comprehensive academic advising, tutoring, and career counseling services. For example, at Calbright, students can access academic and career counseling to help them make informed choices about their academic and job pursuits, and it is all covered by the state.
While online education was once considered an alternative or supplementary option, it has rapidly expanded and emerged as a cornerstone of higher education. But to ensure opportunities continue to open doors that were previously inaccessible, America’s higher education system must evolve, and these programs must continue to evolve to ensure quality and alignment with student and employer needs.
To do this, the U.S. must modernize the way it invests in postsecondary education. Policy must enable individuals to pursue more flexible and affordable ways to acquire higher skills and higher-wage jobs, including online educational opportunities. Passing the bipartisan Workforce Pell Act in Congress would be a good start. This bill would allow students to use the Pell Grant for shorter-term postsecondary programs, including fully online programs that meet certain quality metrics.
Additionally, federal policymakers should refrain from over-regulation that would discourage online education. Last year, the American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities warned that a U.S. Department of Education proposed rule would cause “significant disruption and termination of critical education services to students,” including many online programs.
But quality is important. For students to derive real value, online learning experiences must ultimately lead to economic mobility, ensuring students complete the program and leave with the necessary skills and credentials for success. In addition to teaching academic and technical skill sets, online programs must ensure students learn the critical employability skills that remain a high priority for employers through peer-to-peer experiences and other hands-on learning opportunities. This will ensure students know how to work with others, can problem-solve, and ultimately succeed in the workforce.
As we look to the future of postsecondary education, online learning will play a pivotal role in expanding access and opportunities for non-traditional students. Colleges like Calbright will continue to grow and be attractive for many students, including those that are older, first generation, and juggling work and familial responsibilities. However, more must be done to ensure these opportunities are truly engrained in America’s postsecondary education system. By embracing digital innovation and leveraging the flexibility and convenience of online platforms, our nation can ensure that all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances, have the chance to pursue their educational aspirations and build a brighter future for themselves and their communities.
Pankovits for The Wall Street Journal: School Choice Can Save Biden’s Presidency
Joe Biden needs a winning issue to save his struggling campaign. He has one in public school choice and would benefit from spotlighting it in his State of the Union address Thursday evening.
The president hasn’t spoken much on the issue since 2020, when he disparaged charter schools. That was a mistake then, as it would be today. Talking positively about the issue would attract working-class and low-income voters who can’t afford to leave their poorly performing public schools.
Charter schools are free, public and open to all. They have a track record of success. I’ve visited charters in every region of the country, and each has rendered the same complaint: No one outside their small community listens to them. From Rhode Island and Illinois to California and New York, lawmakers often attempt to block new charters or otherwise hamstring existing ones.
Valentine for Real Clear Education: Are HBCUs the Key to the Future?
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
This Black History Month, teachers and students of all colors will study this famous quote from martyred leader and speaker Malcolm X and hopefully reflect on its meaning. For so many, the future is more uncertain than ever. As we grapple with issues ranging from Artificial Intelligence to post-COVID learning loss, chronic absenteeism, the science of reading, teacher diversity, and the future of higher education, there is a greater need for a transformative solution to longstanding racial disparities in educational outcomes.
The recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card,” underscores the persistent disparities between races. For example, white fourth graders continue to outscore their Black counterparts by a margin that has only marginally improved since 1992. The imperative for change is clear and waiting is simply not an option.
In the realm of educational innovation, where is the visionary idea that will instill accountability, grant autonomy to educational leaders, and expand school choice for low-income parents, thereby fostering the most significant gains for Black and Brown students?
Read more in Real Clear Education.
Untapped Expertise: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as Charter School Authorizers
Washington, D.C. — For generations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been a catalyst for education progress in America, including transforming K-12 education through a combination of initiatives and programs designed to meet the aspirations of students who often lack opportunities. And yet, when parents demand new and better schools for their children, HBCUs continue to represent an under-utilized source of expertise that can help redesign the 21st-century public education system.
Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) released a report titled “Untapped Expertise: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as Charter School Authorizers,” which makes the case for expanded partnerships between charter schools and HBCUs to become charter school authorizers. Authorizers are governmentally approved and supervised entities that oversee academic, financial, and operational expectations and school performance. Quality authorizing is a catalyst for expanding access to quality educational opportunities for students and families, especially communities of color.
Report authors Curtis Valentine, Co-Director of PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools Project, and Karega Rausch, President and CEO of NACSA, argue that HBCUs are natural partners for charter schools due to their long history in education reform and pre-existing relationships. To speed up the pace of school improvement and modernization, America needs more quality charter school authorizers. Currently, the states with the most HBCUs do not allow for higher education authorizers, and the report’s authors call on policymakers to create pathways for capable HBCUs to become strong charter school authorizers.
“HBCUs have played a powerful role in our nation’s education system for generations. As an alumnus of an HBCU, I know firsthand the untapped expertise HBCUs can have on our K-12 education, especially for charter schools — which play a vital role in lowering systemic barriers to high-quality education,” said Curtis Valentine. “HBCUs becoming charter school authorizers is a new and transformative way of achieving that end.”
“Excellent schools built from the aspirations of families remain the north star and high-quality authorizing is key in achieving that end,” said Karega Rausch. “Authorizing well is hard work and we look forward to working with policymakers to create thoughtful pathways for willing HBCUs to be outstanding authorizers.”
The report outlines the steps that state policymakers should take to empower our nation’s HBCUs to become strong charter school authorizers. Charter schools have proven to be a powerful tool for boosting student achievement, especially among low-income families and families of color. By becoming charter school authorizers, HBCUs can build on their historical legacy of transforming K-12 education by strengthening ties between K-12 and higher education and creating strong community institutions that provide opportunities for economic growth.
Read and download the report here.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Find an expert at PPI and follow us on Twitter.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) advances and strengthens the ideas and practices of authorizing so students and communities—especially those who are historically under-resourced—thrive. NACSA believes that quality authorizing is essential and must balance access, autonomy, and accountability in overseeing the overall performance of their portfolios of schools. Find out more about authorizing and NACSA at qualitycharters.org.
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Media Contact:
Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org, Courtney Hughley – courtneyh@qualitycharters.org
Untapped Expertise: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as Charter School Authorizers
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For generations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been a catalyst for transformation in K-12 through initiatives, including diversifying teaching pipelines, starting new schools, and establishing programs designed to meet the aspirations of students far away from quality opportunities.
And yet, in many ways, we have not yet realized the full potential for how HBCUs can drive educational opportunities for all K-12 students. At a time when parents across the country are demanding new and better schools for their children, HBCUs represent an under-tapped source of expertise. This is especially relevant for Black families because of the disproportionate impact that unfinished learning has on them and the systemic barriers to high-quality education that this community has historically faced. HBCUs have a unique history, legacy, and record of advancing Black achievement and wellness, which makes them ideal partners in redesigning public education for the 21st century.
Elevating HBCUs’ Role in K-12 Education
HBCUs and their alumni have played powerful roles in K-12 public education, including charter schools. Alumni are leading outstanding charter learning institutions with exceptional student outcomes, and some HBCUs have partnered with charter schools in effective ways including integrating charter schools on their campuses. This arrangement provides students with a unique experience in which they are introduced to the promise and prestige of higher education earlier in their educational journey. And we believe it is merely the start of a partnership that can have a profound difference in the lives of underserved communities.
Charter schools have proven to be a powerful tool for boosting student achievement, especially among low-income families and families of color. Charter schools are public schools, free and open to all students. They currently serve nearly four million students across 7,700 schools in 45 states and the District of Columbia. When permitted to thrive, charter schools offer families a variety of educational options from which to choose the best fit for their child. They are the opposite of one-size-fits-all schooling. Their unique blend of parental choice, school autonomy, personalized learning, and strict accountability for results illuminates the way toward higher-performing schools for all U.S. students, regardless of their zip code. They create a healthy mix of different types of public schools that helps improve all of public education.
What makes public charter schools innovative and nimble is how they are governed and overseen. The key is charter school authorizers — governmentally approved and supervised entities that decide who is qualified to start a charter school and receive public funding. They determine each school’s academic, financial, and operational expectations; oversee school performance; enforce contractual performance and compliance expectations; and decide which schools should be given the privilege of continuing to educate students.
A practical barrier to quality public school options is the shortage of effective governance and oversight provided by charter school authorizers.
When done well, authorizing is a catalyst for expanding access to quality educational opportunities for students, families, and communities, especially those that have been overlooked, undervalued, and ignored.
But when done poorly — due to overregulation, insufficient institutional commitment, micromanagement, sheer incompetence, or inherent conflicts of interest — weak authorizing contributes to educational failure.
Authorizing charter schools is a relatively new way of making transformative change in K-12 governance and oversight. HBCUs as authorizers is a means to a critical end and one HBCUs have been doing since their inception: better educational opportunities for all students.
To speed the pace of school improvement and modernization, America needs more strong charter school authorizers. Given their capacities and expertise, the nation’s HBCUs are natural candidates to assume this role.
Recommendations for Policymakers:
NACSA and PPI urge state policymakers to take the following steps to start empowering willing HBCUs to become strong charter school authorizers:
• Query college leaders to determine if there is at least one HBCU interested in becoming a high-quality charter school authorizer (HBCUs can contact state policymakers directly to express interest);
• Examine national best practices on quality authorizing and how other states have structured authoring infrastructures to determine the best fit for your state;
• Determine the scope of HBCU authorizing (e.g. one institution or multiple institutions) and any other limitations (e.g. only HBCUs of a certain size);
• Enact legislation allowing for one or more HBCUs to be authorizers;
• Ensure there is sufficient funding and resources for authorizing functions.
A Stronger Future for Education
By becoming charter school authorizers, HBCUs can build on their historical legacy of transforming K-12 education in at least four ways:
1. Redesigning Public Education: Overseeing and expanding quality public school options to improve the outcomes of all students.
2. Building on educational legacies: Overseeing high-quality and effective K-12 schools can help HBCUs build on their rich legacy by deepening connections with local communities.
3. Strengthening ties between K-12 and higher education: HBCU authorizers can develop unique partnerships with schools they oversee, providing access to higher education campuses, creating pipelines of new students, opportunities for dual enrollment, mentorship programs between schools and students, and research opportunities between faculty and schools.
4. Creating strong community institutions and wealth: New charter schools create new facilities and jobs, with opportunities for economic growth in communities, such as Black vendors who can provide new charter schools with products and services.
Our country needs stronger educational opportunities that advance the learning of all students, Black students in particular. HBCUs as charter school authorizers is a transformative way of achieving this goal. For HBCUs looking to expand their impact and strengthen their own institutions, becoming a charter school authorizer is an idea whose time has come.
Read the full report.
Maag for The Hill: With fewer degree requirements, the federal government can break the ‘paper ceiling’
By Taylor Maag and Michael Brickman
Education has become one of America’s most significant dividing lines. Those with bachelor’s and advanced degrees have mostly prospered, while employment prospects, wages and advancement opportunities for those with less education have fallen.
Yet, with so much else dividing our country, there is a growing bipartisan consensus that we must tear “the paper ceiling” that denies opportunities to those without at least a bachelor’s degree.
Early in the 2000s, many employers began adding degree requirements to job descriptions — whether they needed them or not — using the degree as a proxy for job preparedness. As a result, workers without a bachelor’s degree were screened out of opportunities. For example, in 2015, 67 percent of production supervisor job postings asked for a four-year college degree, even though just 16 percent of employed production supervisors had graduated from college.
Research from Opportunity@Work found that because of this “degree inflation,” there is a talent pool of skilled workers being left behind in our economy. The data shows that Americans skilled through alternative routes other than a bachelor’s degree represent 50 percent of the U.S. workforce. Many of them possess skills that should qualify them for jobs with salaries at least 50 percent higher than their current job.
In other words, our current hiring practices systematically underutilize the skills of millions of U.S. workers, deepening the economic divide between those with and without college degrees.
Maag for RealClearEducation: Can Career Learning Bring America’s Young People Back to School?
By Taylor Maag
School absenteeism sky-rocketed post-pandemic: 6.5 million more students missed at least 10% or more of the 2021-22 school year than in 2017-18. This means 14.7 million students were chronically absent even after schools reopened from the pandemic. While preliminary data shows that absentee rates slightly decreased in the 2022-23 school year, truancy remains a serious concern for our nation’s K-12 system.
School absences take a toll on the academic performance and social-emotional development of young people. The National Center for Education Statistics, the organization that administers the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), cited increased student absenteeism as a main factor in recent NAEP score declines. Beyond test scores, irregular attendance can be a predictor of dropping out of high school, which has been linked to poor labor market prospects, diminished health, and increased involvement in the criminal justice system.
If we want to get students back in the classroom and avoid poor outcomes for our nation’s young people, U.S. leaders must rethink how we operate K-12 education. One potential solution is reinventing high school to ensure every young person is exposed to the world of work through career-oriented education and learning. An analysis of international cross-section data found that nations enrolling a large proportion of students in vocational or career-focused programs have significantly higher school attendance rates and higher completion rates than those that don’t.
Read more in RealClearEducation.
RAS Webinar: Now What? Historically Underperforming PISA Scores are a Call to Action
Released in December, the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam scores were more-than disappointing. They follow those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) which showed that two-thirds of American children are not proficient in reading. The PISA exam, which focused on math, showed an unprecedented drop in math scores from 2018 to 2022, which is three times worse than any other year. American students’ math scores showed students dropped 13 points, which is the equivalent of two-thirds of a year of learning. Only 7% of U.S. students can do advanced math, and affluence is no guarantee of student performance. Wealthier U.S. students were outscored by average-performing students in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, and our students who participated in the 2022 PISA were among the nation’s most advantaged.
Join PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools Project for a webinar that will review the underperforming scores and dissect the data that should guide the nation on how to reverse this terrible trend. We are honored to present the foremost PISA and education assessment experts on our panel:
Our expert panelists include:
- Dr. Peggy G. Carr, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
- Andreas Schleicher, Director of the Directorate of Education and Skills at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Jonathan A. Supovitz, Professor Policy, Organizations, Leadership, and Systems Division At University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education; Director, Consortium for Policy Research in Education
Moderator: Tressa Pankovits, Co-Director of Reinventing America’s Schools, PPI
Join us for an engaging conversation that will put our PISA outcomes into perspective and offer answers to the inevitable, “Now what?” moment of reckoning.
This webinar is in partnership with The 74.
Pankovits for Medium: Chicago Mayor Does Democrats No Favors by Catering to the Teachers Union New Policy Flies in the Face of Public Opinion at Every Level
In eight months, Chicago will host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where delegates will nominate for re-election the most union-friendly U.S. president in recent memory. President Biden’s support for union workers is laudable when applied to the private sector where profits and the bottom line are the raison d’etre. Collective bargaining agreements ensure employers don’t mistreat workers in their quest for cash.
The picture changes, however, when public sector unions are taken into account. Public organizations — schools, police departments, post offices, and so on — exist to serve taxpayers and their families, not to build investors’ wealth. That mission doesn’t always neatly dovetail with unions’ eternal goal of increasing membership, and subsequently, the union dues that flow into their coffers.
When it comes to public sector unions, none are as powerful as the two national teachers unions and their local affiliates. Just four public unions together spent almost $709 million on politics in the 2021–2022 election cycle. One was the National Education Association (NEA); another was the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Combined, the NEA and the AFT spend more money for the sake of political power in Illinois than any other state.
A just-released study just released by the Commonwealth Foundation found that public sector unions spent almost $30 million in Illinois’ 2021–2022 election cycle. Larger and more populous California trailed Illinois in second place; no other state even comes close.
Students Learn Construction Skills as They Build Homes for Low-Income Families
By Khalique Rogers, Joe Nathan, and Tressa Pankovits
Earlier this year, with strong bipartisan support, Minnesota legislators passed a pair of bills that they call “triple win” legislation. The new laws are designed to address three critical issues: ensuring public school students graduate with marketable skills, the shortage of certified construction workers, and a pervasive lack of affordable housing.
Minnesota’s forward-thinking initiative is the subject of a Reinventing America’s Schools (RAS) webinar on Tuesday, December 5. The 74 Million, Progressive Policy Institute, and Minnesota’s Center for School Change are co-sponsoring the webinar, which is the latest in RAS’ series on reinventing high schools.
The successful passage of these laws provides funding to replicate programs like the one at GAP School, which is an alternative school in St Paul, MN, serving students aged 16-24. The school’s director, Jody Nelson, will participate in the webinar. GAP’s program:
• Enables students to learn marketable construction skills, thus giving a head start into a well-paying career;
• Constructs homes for low-income families, thus helping meet Minnesotan’s need for more deeply affordable permanent housing;
• Helps provide workers for construction and related fields, which are encountering significant shortages.
Khalique Rogers, co-director of Minnesota’s Center for School Change (CSC), helped lead the legislative effort, with good reason. Rogers, who is featured in the webinar, personally experienced homelessness.
Rogers explained that after moving from Chicago to what they hoped would be a better life in Minneapolis, his family’s meager resources were soon exhausted by hotel bills and by landlords who demanded rental application fees, even when they secretly already had another renter identified. Resources exhausted, the family was forced to sleep in their car. Finally, they found a shelter, but it only welcomed his mother and siblings. His father wasn’t allowed to stay because all of the shelters were for single parents — mothers and children only. Rogers describes the experience as “dehumanizing.”
Though no one wants anyone to freeze in Minnesota’s severe winters, Rogers continues to challenge what he and other youth see as Minnesota’s over-reliance on temporary shelters. After interviewing more than 30 youth who also experienced homelessness, he shared his findings in an online Minnesota publication, and a Minnesota Public Radio interview, explaining “It’s important to hear and learn from youth experiencing homelessness in the Twin Cities.” As he testified at the Minnesota legislature, “Many students find shelters to be dangerous places — we need to provide permanent housing options.”
To help challenge that over-reliance, CSC has completed four case studies of schools that currently have home-building programs. These include GAP, two schools building “tiny-homes”: Exploration Charter High School, and Hutchinson High School, and a collaboration between GAP and Good Will/Easter Seals Minnesota that is constructing housing for low-income veterans and vets experiencing homelessness.
Now a graduate of St. Paul College and a student at the University of Minnesota, Rogers convened 40 advocates, including 12 students already learning construction skills and building homes. Under Roger’s leadership, their activism during the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions convinced lawmakers legislators to spend $20 million per year over the next six years, much of it on permanent deeply affordable housing. In 2023, Minnesota lawmakers doubled funding for Youthbuild, a program for “at-risk” youth that helps them earn a high school degree as they develop marketable construction skills and knowledge. Lawmakers also agreed to modify existing legislation so that public schools can apply for up to $100,000 from a pool of more than $40 million to help construct permanent affordable housing.
Minnesota Democratic State Representative Matt Norris, lead sponsor of HF 1310 and HF 2492 in the Minnesota House, is also on the webinar’s panel. Norris said he authored the bills because, in addition to addressing the shortage of much-need, deeply affordable housing and ensuring students graduate with marketable skills, the high school construction training programs already in operation have proven cost-effective and should be scaled. He calls the state’s positive response to the urgent need for more young people to enter construction and related fields a “win-win-win.”
The success of schools with home-building career pathways helped convince lawmakers that the money to scale the model would be well spent. “Our students have renovated four houses and built two new homes,” said Jody Nelson, executive director of Change Inc., which runs GAP School. For years, the school’s construction career pathway has been affiliated with the national YouthBuild USA, as well as Minnesota’s own YouthBuild program.
“Lots of our students are immigrants and refugees,” Nelson said. “It’s a great way into high-wage, high-demand jobs.
GAP alumni Hser Pwe was born in Burma and grew up in a Thailand prison-like refugee camp after his family fled murderous Burmese soldiers. He testified to the legislature that the YouthBuild program at GAP not only taught him construction skills, but also helped improve his English and realize that he really “did” have opportunities. When he graduated from GAP in 2014, GAP helped him find a job installing floor covering. Eight years later, he’s been promoted to foreman, loves his career, and makes more than $44 per hour.
Pwe told lawmakers, “Because of this program I can speak English and support my wife and children. I have even become a U.S. citizen. Without YouthBuild, I do not know where I would be today.”
Thanks in part to this collaboration of legislators, educators, students, and people who’ve experienced homelessness, Minnesota is now on the path to simultaneously providing dignified affordable housing options and livable-wage careers for high school graduates (even those who may also be college-bound).
RAS has strongly promoted reinventing public schools. Its work at Progressive Policy Institute has included a series of online discussions offering practical examples, for policymakers, educators, and community members. Register here for the webinar on December 5 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. (EST).
Khalique Rogers and Joe Nathan are Co-Directors of the Center for School Change, and Tressa Pankovits is Co-Director of Reinventing America’s Schools at Progressive Policy Institute.
PPI & The 74’s Future of High School Series: Minnesota’s GAP School & State Policies to Support Youth Career Development
PPI & The 74’s Future of High School Series:
Minnesota’s GAP School & State Policies to Support Youth Career Development
Tuesday, December 5th at 12:30 p.m. ET
Via Zoom!
Join us on Tuesday, December 5 at 12:30 p.m. EST for a one-hour Zoom webinar to learn about an innovative school model and bold state policies that support youth career learning and development in Minnesota.This webinar will focus on The Guadalupe Alternative Programs (GAP), a community-based middle and high school serving grades 7-12, and their work expanding career opportunities in residential construction for their students. Panelists will speak about the career opportunities for which this program is preparing students, and how the program provides much needed housing support for the community. Additionally, we’ll hear from state policymakers on how Minnesota’s new state policy is encouraging these career pathways and ways other states and the federal government could facilitate replication and scale.
This conversation is critically important as it will help inform the education reforms needed to ensure the U.S. education system adapts to meet current workforce needs, with a focus on programs that will lead to greater economic opportunity for our nation’s young people, and, in this instance, is tackling the lack of affordable housing
This webinar is in collaboration between PPI’s New Skills for a New Economy Project, Reinventing America’s Schools Project, and The 74.
Our expert panelists include:
- Jody Nelson, Ed.D., LMFT, Executive Director of Change Inc., a community based social service agency
- Matt Norris, MN House of Representatives (District 32B) representing the communities of Blaine and Lexington
- Khalique Rogers, founder of Good Riddance Consulting and Co-Director of the Center for School Change
- Tressa Pankovits, Co-Director of Reinventing America’s Schools, PPI
Moderator: Taylor Maag, Director of PPI’s New Skills for a New Economy Project
RSVP HERE!
Revisiting Super Pell: Empowering Students to Earn the Skills They Need to Succeed
A decade ago, a majority of Americans felt positive about higher education but today these feelings have shifted. Americans, even across party lines, are increasingly concerned about affordability, access, and the overall payoff of a college degree. Combined with technological advances that have altered the credentials and skills needed for a successful career, many Americans have come to believe that traditional four-year degree programs do not meet our nation’s industry demands.
Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released a new report “Revisiting Super Pell: Empowering Students to Earn the Skills They Need to Succeed,” detailing an innovative policy proposal to expand the existing Pell Grant program and allow it to cover short-term industry-aligned programs. PPI recommends consolidating existing assistance for higher education — tax incentives, the Pell Grant and other programs — into a new Super Pell Grant.
Report author Taylor Maag, Director of Workforce Development Policy and the New Skills for a New Economy Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, outlines how a Super Pell grant would reach roughly 5 million more students from middle and low-income backgrounds, increase the average Pell award by at least $500, and allow all eligible individuals to use their aid for non-degree programs that are not currently covered by federal financial aid.
“As we stand at the intersection of technological advancements, shifting workforce demands, and a growing desire for accessible career education, America’s degree-centric model for higher education must evolve. A Super Pell Grant would consolidate federal higher education spending to expand the reach of the Pell Grant while also expanding its ability to cover shorter-term, more workforce-oriented programs. This expansion would enable millions of Americans to pursue quicker and more affordable ways to acquire higher skills and higher-wage jobs. The result will be a societal win-win: a more adaptable and competitive workforce and less economic inequality,” said Taylor Maag.
By enacting Super Pell, policymakers would be simplifying federal aid and expanding access to postsecondary education. The expansion of this grant and the inclusion of short-term workforce training will not only meet the needs of today’s students — those who are older and more diverse — but also ensure employers have the talent they need to remain competitive.
Read and download the full report here.
New Skills for a New Economy, a project of PPI, seeks to promote workforce development policies that level the playing field for degree and non-degree workers. This project plays a critical role in shaping federal and state workforce policy, weighing in on important debates, key legislation, and helping to lift up new ideas and best practices happening across the country.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org
Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.
Find an expert at PPI.
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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org
Revisiting Super Pell: Empowering Students to Earn the Skills They Need to Succeed
INTRODUCTION
A decade ago, Americans felt positively about higher education — over 95% of parents (across political parties) said they expected their kids to go to college. Today, these feelings have shifted. Fewer young adults believe college is important, only about one-third of the American public has confidence in higher education, and, in contrast to the college-oriented parents of 10 years ago, almost half now say they’d prefer their children pursue something other than a bachelor’s degree upon their high school graduation.
So, what has changed in the last decade? A recent study from Pew Research Center revealed that Americans are increasingly concerned about affordability, access, and the overall payoff of a college degree. Meanwhile, technological advances and AI have begun to change the world of work, altering the credentials and skills needed for success. Many Americans have come to believe that traditional degree programs do not meet these new industry demands.
Additionally, a half-century ago, many workers could earn a family-sustaining wage with just a high school diploma. Today, most workers need at least some postsecondary education or specified skill set to succeed in our economy. According to an analysis from the National Skills Coalition, 52% of jobs today require more education and training than high schools provide, but less than typically included with a four-year college degree. Unfortunately, only 43% of workers have access to the skills training needed to fill those jobs.
Public policy has not kept up with these changing demands. While dramatically expanding financial support for college students, Washington has chronically underinvested in workforce development and the ability for non-degree workers and learners to acquire in-demand skills. Left in the lurch are individuals who need and want workforce training that does not require two- or four-year degrees, as well as U.S. employers trying to fill skills gaps. In essence, federal policy has opened a chasm between the educational establishment and the nation’s labor market.
PPI believes “Super Pell” grants aimed at helping future and current workers acquire valuable in-demand skills can help bridge that gap.
The federal Pell Grant program, authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting postsecondary students from low-income families. Total federal spending on the program last year was around $27.6 billion and in 2021/22, the number of Pell Grant recipients grew to 6.1 million or 34% of undergraduate students. But Pell Grants can’t be used for all postsecondary programs. The aid can only be used in educational institutions that are accredited and approved by the Department of Education (ED) and for programs that meet certain seat time and credit criteria. These requirements exclude many shorter-term, workforce-oriented programs — limiting the postsecondary opportunities individuals can choose from.
In 2014, PPI scholar Paul Weinstein proposed reforming Pell to establish a single higher education grant that would be more generous, easier to access, and financed by folding the myriad of existing tax incentives and higher education spending programs into one offering.10 He later renamed it “Super Pell” and PPI added to the idea in 2019 in our progressive budget for equitable growth.11 The proposal not only ensures more Americans can draw down on this aid but also includes high-quality workforce programs — giving America’s current and future workers the opportunity to use federal aid for educational opportunities best poised to meet their needs and the needs of the labor market. This policy brief dives into why Super Pell is needed now, why this proposal is different than what’s out there and action that has been done to date.
READ THE FULL REPORT.
Pankovits for Medium: Senate Democrats Find Their Voice on School Reform
By Tressa Pankovits
A colleague recently observed: “Parents have spoken: The school choice debate is over! Now, the debate is about ‘what’ school choice will look like ¾ will it be truly public, or will taxpayer dollars universally fund selective private schools?”
At PPI, we believe that public school options should be just that: public, free, and open to all. Only public schools can ensure that students do not suffer discrimination or exclusion based on race, religion or any other protected categories.
That’s why we were heartened to see a cadre of U.S. Senate Democrats join Republican Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in sponsoring a bill that would encourage school choice that is truly public ¾ and proven.
Pankovits for Real Clear Education: Why Are We Cheating Public Charter Schools Out of Funding?
You wouldn’t pay steakhouse prices for a fast-food burger, would you? Didn’t think so.
So, why do we send the lion’s share of our public K-12 education dollars to schools that can’t keep up with the financially lean education machines that outperform them?
I’m talking about public charter schools, of course. These free, public schools that disproportionately serve low-income and minority children are the subject of two recently released independent studies. Taking the studies together, pragmatic thinkers might wonder how we could be so indifferent to blatant discrimination against our most marginalized students.