Improving public education has long been a cornerstone of the Democratic platform. Because progressives understand that access to a quality education is the gateway to a better life, our decades-long struggle to promote equal rights and opportunity for all Americans has been deeply tied to our struggle to create an effective public school system. In…
Reinventing America’s Schools
America needs a 21st century model of public education geared to the knowledge economy. Charter schools are showing the way, because they provide autonomy for schools, accountability for results, and parental choice among schools tailored to the diverse learning styles of children. David Osborne’s book, Reinventing America’s Schools, explores the new paradigm of public education that is emerging to fit the realities of the 21st century.
Publications
Progressives are rightly concerned about inequality, but some overlook the crucial role that underperforming public schools play in perpetuating poverty and inequality in America. The poor quality of many school systems is a serious impediment to social mobility for children from low-income and minority families, who can’t easily pick up and move to communities with…
For a century, our public education system was the backbone of our success as a nation. By creating one of the world’s first mass education systems, free to all children, we forged the most educated workforce in the world. The creation of standardized, unified school systems with monopolies on free schooling had a dramatic impact…
Blog
As schools wind down from a, hopefully, once-in-a-lifetime shutdown, many students and teachers find their motivation also winding down. Educators are calling this “zoom fatigue,” referring to the commonly used teleconference platform. To end the year on a high note, teachers could turn to project-based learning (PBL), by asking students to complete a project they…
The transition to distance learning has caused unprecedented disruption to our education system. Many low-income students do not have internet access necessary for taking classes online. While some districts and charter schools are distributing devices and hotspots, in others, students are making do with paper packets. With all this chaos, though, we still live in…
The $2.2 trillion Corona Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act appropriated $30.75 billion for education—almost half of which will flow to “Local Education Agencies.” These LEAs include both school districts and many charter schools or networks. But charter laws differ from state to state, and many charter schools authorized by school districts do not…
Op-eds and Articles
It is time for Latinx communities to build the political power necessary to demand education reforms that benefit their children, several Latinx leaders argue. Within 16 months, 30 percent of all public school students will be Latinx, they pointed out during a recent Progressive Policy Institute webinar. But school boards often have no idea what these…
As school winds down for this year, discussion in education circles has turned to next year. After a spring of uneven distance learning and a long summer, should classes pick up where they were last March—or where they would normally start? Should they ask those who did not participate in distance learning to repeat a…
Many state governments have deemed school construction an essential service during the coronavirus crisis. This is a good thing. While New York, the nation’s pandemic epicenter, didn’t give school facilities projects the green light until April 9, states less hard-hit were quicker to make the declaration. That sounds like good news for charter schools expecting…
PPI in the News
Central to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ cantankerous mystique is his anti-establishment stance and uncompromising vision for radical economic change. When it comes to public schools, however, Sanders is no revolutionary. On the contrary, he sides with the education establishment in defending a status quo that is failing poor and minority students. The democratic socialist from Vermont recently…
Reinventing America's Schools Project Director David Osborne appeared on the The Report Card, American Enterprise Institute's education podcast hosted by Nat Malkus. On this episode, Malkus and Osborne discuss the history of charter schools and the future of chartering. They also highlight some of the lessons learned and challenges faced by charter proponents over the…
Education was mostly a sideshow in the massive tax overhaul Congress passed just before Christmas. But one marginal issue passed in the dead of night may end up playing a big role in the school choice debate going forward. Under the new law, money from 529 college savings accounts can now be used for private…
Press Releases
Central to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ cantankerous mystique is his anti-establishment stance and uncompromising vision for radical economic change. When it comes to public schools, however, Sanders is no revolutionary. On the contrary, he sides with the education establishment in defending a status quo that is failing poor and minority students. The democratic socialist from Vermont recently…
Dear Democratic Class of 2018, Congratulations on your election to the U.S. House of Representatives! In addition to winning your own race, you are part of something larger – the first wave of a progressive resurgence in U.S. politics. The midterm elections gave U.S. voters their first opportunity to react to the way Donald Trump…
WASHINGTON—Despite dramatically improving academic achievement and performance in America’s urban areas, public charter schools have had difficulty expanding into the country’s more affluent suburban communities. A new report released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) investigates why. Authored by PPI education analyst Emily Langhorne, the report analyzes the performance of existing suburban charter schools,…
