New Wonkyfolk today. Jed and I talk through some of what’s going on.
Here if you like to watch:
Coming Attractions
I’ll be at Harvard on Tuesday evening for an Askwith Forum to discuss developments at the Department of Education and the federal role in education. The event will be available online later—come in person to ask questions. The following week, I’ll be in San Diego at ASU+GSV to lead a discussion on Washington’s role in research and innovation.
Rick Hess and I have a forthcoming conversation in Education Week about how sloppy much of the recent reform work has been.
From Bellwether: Here’s a roundup of what’s happening with ESAs, direct payment policy schemes, and the outstanding questions surrounding them.
On April 9, in partnership with PPI, we’re hosting a discussion of Rick Kahlenberg’s new book Class Matters. It explores how to achieve campus diversity without relying on explicit racial preferences—especially relevant in the current climate. The event will be at PPI’s DC office and will include Rick, Democratic soothsayer Ruy Teixeira, Rutgers’ Stacy Hawkins, Alison Somin of the Pacific Legal Foundation, and moderator Sam Fulwood, formerly of the Los Angeles Times. Will Marshall of PPI and I will offer framing remarks on why this conversation matters.
The first week of May, I’ll be at the SDP conference at Harvard, again talking data and IES. Then on 5/12, Medicaid & schools expert Sarah Broome, a senior advisor at Bellwether, will join me on LinkedIn to discuss what’s at stake with potential changes to that program.
When “Allies” Really Aren’t
The sooner Democrats find their way to a position on transgender issues—supporting freedom, expression, non-harassment, and civil rights, but not endorsing the concealment of transitions from parents—the better off they’ll be politically, and the better off kids will be in practice. We’ve discussed this before.
Here’s Erica Anderson in the Washington Post a few years ago:
Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist who is a transgender woman and former president of the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health, said leaving parents in the dark is not the answer. “If there are issues between parents and children, they need to be addressed,” she said. “It’s not like kicking a can down the road. It only postpones, in my opinion, and aggravates any conflict that may exist.”
Here’s California today. Here is Maine. Here’s a letter from OCR released today. There is another to Governor Gavin Newsom from the Secretary as well.
This was a landmine hiding in plain sight. We’ve talked about it around here a lot.
If you think the sports issue is unpopular, how do you imagine schools actively keeping secrets from parents plays with the public? School administrators worry it erodes trust but often hesitate to speak up. I was talking to one of the most conservative state chiefs in the country recently—they want this issue to go away because it’s harmful to trans kids.
In other words, it’s one of the most activist-driven issues out there, but one where quiet agreement exists across a wide spectrum of decent people. And let’s be clear: a culture of secrecy harms gay and trans kids alike. The way to help society evolve is through openness and freedom, not concealment. This is all so counterproductive.
Schools are mandatory reporters. If a child isn’t safe, staff must be trained on the appropriate steps to take. But safety and disagreement are different things. The idea that schools should get ahead of parents on major life decisions for minors? That’s nuts and political poison.
Here’s a cursory five-point plan that may lose the strident haters and strident activists—but allow everyone else to find a workable compromise:
- Respect parents—even if you don’t agree. We’re talking about minors. This isn’t about outing kids, but about schools actively transitioning students without parental involvement or consent. Don’t do that.
- Cultivate a pluralistic climate. Respect different choices. Let kids be kids.
- Zero tolerance for harassment and bullying. Public schools are for everyone.
- Train educators to distinguish between safety and disagreement. Make sure everyone understands what mandatory reporting means, how it works, and why.
- Respect student free speech rights. Avoid coercive speech policies and lean on common-sense anti-bullying approaches (see #3). Don’t escalate, as much as the fringes might want that, instead deescalate.
Harassment and discrimination are hills worth dying on. Concealment is a hill public schools will die on.
The good news, Democrats? It’s late, but you have 586 days to figure this one out.
Two Notes on What’s Happening
First, it’s increasingly clear that the “DC consensus” on education is out of sync with the rest of the country. We can debate whether politics drives culture or vice versa, but what’s happening in federal education policy now stems from more than a decade of cultural and educational shifts. I worry people are so consumed with their own opposition to what’s happening that they’re missing how—and why—we got here. That matters if we want to move forward.
I’m struck by how differently these issues are discussed in DC and the nonprofit space compared to the country more broadly. Robert Pondiscio may overstate it, but he’s not wrong about the pace of change—and Washington is always last to get the memo.
You may not agree with Todd Huston’s argument in The 74. I don’t, and I’m someone who believes in the importance of state authority. But in DC, views like Huston’s are still considered crude or un-evolved in a lot of circles. I don’t think the DC crowd has realized how widespread these views are among leaders across the country.
Once the taboo lifts, we may see some blue states break ranks on elements of the Trump education agenda—especially program consolidation, waivers, and flexibility. Keep an eye on Iowa (though contrary to The 74’s reporting, my understanding is choice isn’t currently part of the waiver—it’s more of a consolidation-for-accountability play and could be a blueprint).
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Second, we’re arguing policy here in education. Whether federal student loans and Pell grants belong in ED, SBA, or Treasury (correct answer: Treasury) is a policy call. Same with whether IDEA should move to HHS (it shouldn’t—in fact ED should also oversee Head Start rather than HHS). These are consequential questions, yes. But they’re fundamentally policy debates—not existential crises.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has said she’ll consult Congress on restructuring requiring legislation. The circus stunt executive order says the same. Unless that changes, this is a serious policy disagreement—not a crisis.
Elsewhere in government, though, truly consequential issues are unfolding—with law firms, and with speech rights. The administration is testing limits on due process, the First Amendment, and executive power. Executive power will be front and center especially as the legislative path narrows moving toward 2026—just ask the hero of the battle of Harvard, Elise Stefanik, sacrificed to the political realities this week.
Executive power will most likely be front and center after 2027.
Those limits the president is testing are real constitutional questions. I would argue we’re not yet at a constitutional crisis but are perilously close to one – far too close. A moment like that calls for clarity, not for calling everything you just don’t like unconstitutional, or even a crisis.
More Frigid Friday Fish
After this pic of the Roza family ice fishing, others sent in their own ice fishing pics. You all are sadists.
Here’s Melody Schopp’s granddaughter—Melody is the former South Dakota chief and now head of Education Industry Consulting at SAS—in a cold but adorable fish pic. If that doesn’t make you want to take a kid fishing, what will?
Yes, there are hundreds of pics of education folks with fish, and more here—including past Schopp family moments. It’s a unique archive. And it’s always fish pics if you get Eduwonk via Substack—a handy way to avoid spam filters.
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View the original article and our Inspiration here