In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law—and over the years Congress has repeatedly reauthorized and updated the law. The 2002 reauthorization, known as No Child Left Behind, included major bipartisan efforts to expose achievement gaps between sets of children and hold schools accountable for closing the gaps and helping all children succeed. Regular tests are supposed to track student progress and prompt leaders to overhaul or assist failing schools. Many lessons have been learned over the past twelve years that could help Congress make much-needed improvements to the law—if and when Republicans and Democrats can overcome ideological splits about the role of the federal government. Since 2007, Congress has been unable to agree on appropriate changes, leaving schools struggling to innovate within the outmoded terms of the existing law. more...
politics
When disasters strike—an airline crash, a tornado or flood with huge casualties, a mass shooting—official investigations and reports follow as predictably as shock, mourning, and efforts to recover. A staple of crisis management and emergency response is the post-response report, often known as an “after action report” or “lessons learned” document. But how often do those reports or the processes that produce them lead to real learning and generate meaningful findings that can help people prevent or cope with future disasters? Not very often, the best evidence suggests, because reports are often generated in quick response to the urge to “do something” and consist largely of political rhetoric. A close look at post-disaster reports reveals why most embody very little true learning—and suggests what it would take for officials and citizens to conduct more effective investigations to inform useful policy changes. more...
The United States is a country of astonishing diversity, yet public offices continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by white men. Women are 51% of the population, but make up only 24% of state legislatures, 18% of Congress and big-city mayors, and 10% of state governors. Progress toward increasing women’s share of public offices has been slow and at times reversed. Women’s underrepresentation raises questions of justice and, according to available research, undermines the optimal functioning of democratic government. Female officeholders raise different issues, forge compromises more readily, and give voice to the needs of families and vulnerable groups in our society. Girls and women also yearn to see people like them in office, and underrepresentation of any group can make government and its actions seem less legitimate or “out of touch.” This brief draws on available research to suggest ways to boost women’s presence at all levels of government. more...
Fights over the laws governing voting rights are nothing new – but 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for court decisions that will determine whether millions of Americans will face new and unnecessary barriers at the polls. Since the disputed 2000 elections, states have increasingly moved to change voting rules, and litigation on these issues has more than doubled. In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court decided in Shelby County v. Holder to strike down a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that had long required states with a history of discrimination to “pre-clear” proposed voting rule changes with the U.S. Department of Justice. Republican-led states have since redoubled efforts to restrict voting – and civil rights groups and the Justice Department have responded by filing new challenges. In 2014, the courts will weigh in, revealing what role, if any, U.S. judges will play in checking moves to make voting harder. more...
Every April 15, millions of Americans submit their tax returns – and thousands attend rallies to protest the federal personal income tax. Tax day protests are sometimes larger, sometimes smaller, but in some recent years they have burgeoned. In both 2009 and 2010, hundreds of thousands of Americans picketed and rallied to express their outrage at the income tax, and the protesters are sure to be back in coming years.
In a democracy, we often think of protests as a sign that something has gone wrong. But protests against progressive taxes in the United States are not extraordinary indicators. They have become almost routine in our political process, with predictable features and chances to succeed. more...
Urban sprawl has long worried officials and citizens. Residents in sprawling cities – where roads, homes, and businesses are spread out around a bigger and bigger perimeter – often have to deal with higher pollution, longer commute times, and growing costs to build and maintain roads, utilities, and other kinds of basic infrastructure. So far, however, many of the policies local governments have adopted to try to deal with urban sprawl have ended up generating unintended and unwanted consequences. The key question is whether there are really effective and economically satisfactory ways to limit urban sprawl. more...
A hundred years ago, America’s bright young men flocked to the high-tech industries of the day – among them electric power and oil and gas. These industries matured and gave the twentieth-century United States the great advantage of abundant and relatively inexpensive energy. But now the old energy system has reached its limits. It inflicts hardships on workers, communities and the environment, and entangles the nation in volatile situations overseas. Worst of all, scientists overwhelmingly agree that unless carbon-based patterns of energy production and use change, the world is headed toward climate-related disruptions on a devastating scale.
If humanity is to avoid this fate, nothing less than fundamental transformations of current patterns of energy production, delivery, and use are necessary. The challenge cannot be met merely by raising the price of fossil-fuels through a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme. The key solution lies in discovering and deploying cost-effective clean energy technologies that are better and cheaper than those now available. The energy transformation must be global in scope, yet the skills and resources of U.S. entrepreneurs, investors, producers, and energy users will be pivotal. more...
As the United States struggles to recover from the recession of 2007-2009, loud voices are calling for cuts in state and local taxes to spur economic growth. In particular, advocates argue that cuts in personal income taxes will promote growth and development. But what is the evidence for this idea? Objective scholarly research on the economic effects of state and local expenditures and taxes is often neglected or misrepresented by tax cut proponents.
Evidence from my own studies and those of many others suggests that adjustments in state and local taxes and spending can, at most, spark marginal gains in economic performance. Across the United States in recent decades, states and localities have adopted more similar tax and spending policies, leaving less room for improvement. Crucially, there is no evidence that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting future growth and tax collections. For public officials, there is no escape from carefully considering how various balances of taxes and spending affect both government budgets and surrounding economies. The truth is that certain kinds of tax reductions may have little effect on economic growth – even as they drain government coffers of revenues needed for crucial economic and social goals.
more...
School is often challenging and frustrating for African American males. Too often, they fall behind their peers, get poor grades, and fail to take advanced courses – or even graduate from high school. They are also more likely to be expelled or disciplined for various offenses, including quite minor ones. Failures or bad experiences in school can put young black males on the road to failure and even imprisonment later in life.
Teachers play a crucial role in helping African American males succeed – they can be pivotal to breaking cycles of frustration and failure. Research suggests that by the time students enter high school, they will spend more time with teachers than with parents. Because teachers weigh so heavily in student psychosocial development, they can boost African American boys and male teens. Yet teachers will not realize their potential to help unless they learn to better understand the perspectives and behaviors of African American males and respond to them in ways that foster positive developmental outcomes. Teachers must develop self-conscious cultural understandings and skills to guide and inspire African American males in their classrooms. more...
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, it is a good time to ask how well the safety net for America’s poor families with children is holding up. New or expanded efforts to aid the poor were launched in the 1960s, some of which have since persisted and evolved, while others have been fundamentally revamped. What does research tell us about the effectiveness of the original and revised efforts – in the key areas of food programs, cash help, and support for low-income working families? more...
When disasters strike—an airline crash, a tornado or flood with huge casualties, a mass shooting—official investigations and reports follow as predictably as shock, mourning, and efforts to recover. A staple of crisis management and emergency response is the post-response report, often known as an “after action report” or “lessons learned” document. But how often do those reports or the processes that produce them lead to real learning and generate meaningful findings that can help people prevent or cope with future disasters? Not very often, the best evidence suggests, because reports are often generated in quick response to the urge to “do something” and consist largely of political rhetoric. A close look at post-disaster reports reveals why most embody very little true learning—and suggests what it would take for officials and citizens to conduct more effective investigations to inform useful policy changes. more...
The United States is a country of astonishing diversity, yet public offices continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by white men. Women are 51% of the population, but make up only 24% of state legislatures, 18% of Congress and big-city mayors, and 10% of state governors. Progress toward increasing women’s share of public offices has been slow and at times reversed. Women’s underrepresentation raises questions of justice and, according to available research, undermines the optimal functioning of democratic government. Female officeholders raise different issues, forge compromises more readily, and give voice to the needs of families and vulnerable groups in our society. Girls and women also yearn to see people like them in office, and underrepresentation of any group can make government and its actions seem less legitimate or “out of touch.” This brief draws on available research to suggest ways to boost women’s presence at all levels of government. more...
Fights over the laws governing voting rights are nothing new – but 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for court decisions that will determine whether millions of Americans will face new and unnecessary barriers at the polls. Since the disputed 2000 elections, states have increasingly moved to change voting rules, and litigation on these issues has more than doubled. In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court decided in Shelby County v. Holder to strike down a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that had long required states with a history of discrimination to “pre-clear” proposed voting rule changes with the U.S. Department of Justice. Republican-led states have since redoubled efforts to restrict voting – and civil rights groups and the Justice Department have responded by filing new challenges. In 2014, the courts will weigh in, revealing what role, if any, U.S. judges will play in checking moves to make voting harder. more...
Every April 15, millions of Americans submit their tax returns – and thousands attend rallies to protest the federal personal income tax. Tax day protests are sometimes larger, sometimes smaller, but in some recent years they have burgeoned. In both 2009 and 2010, hundreds of thousands of Americans picketed and rallied to express their outrage at the income tax, and the protesters are sure to be back in coming years.
In a democracy, we often think of protests as a sign that something has gone wrong. But protests against progressive taxes in the United States are not extraordinary indicators. They have become almost routine in our political process, with predictable features and chances to succeed. more...
Urban sprawl has long worried officials and citizens. Residents in sprawling cities – where roads, homes, and businesses are spread out around a bigger and bigger perimeter – often have to deal with higher pollution, longer commute times, and growing costs to build and maintain roads, utilities, and other kinds of basic infrastructure. So far, however, many of the policies local governments have adopted to try to deal with urban sprawl have ended up generating unintended and unwanted consequences. The key question is whether there are really effective and economically satisfactory ways to limit urban sprawl. more...
A hundred years ago, America’s bright young men flocked to the high-tech industries of the day – among them electric power and oil and gas. These industries matured and gave the twentieth-century United States the great advantage of abundant and relatively inexpensive energy. But now the old energy system has reached its limits. It inflicts hardships on workers, communities and the environment, and entangles the nation in volatile situations overseas. Worst of all, scientists overwhelmingly agree that unless carbon-based patterns of energy production and use change, the world is headed toward climate-related disruptions on a devastating scale.
If humanity is to avoid this fate, nothing less than fundamental transformations of current patterns of energy production, delivery, and use are necessary. The challenge cannot be met merely by raising the price of fossil-fuels through a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme. The key solution lies in discovering and deploying cost-effective clean energy technologies that are better and cheaper than those now available. The energy transformation must be global in scope, yet the skills and resources of U.S. entrepreneurs, investors, producers, and energy users will be pivotal. more...
As the United States struggles to recover from the recession of 2007-2009, loud voices are calling for cuts in state and local taxes to spur economic growth. In particular, advocates argue that cuts in personal income taxes will promote growth and development. But what is the evidence for this idea? Objective scholarly research on the economic effects of state and local expenditures and taxes is often neglected or misrepresented by tax cut proponents.
Evidence from my own studies and those of many others suggests that adjustments in state and local taxes and spending can, at most, spark marginal gains in economic performance. Across the United States in recent decades, states and localities have adopted more similar tax and spending policies, leaving less room for improvement. Crucially, there is no evidence that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting future growth and tax collections. For public officials, there is no escape from carefully considering how various balances of taxes and spending affect both government budgets and surrounding economies. The truth is that certain kinds of tax reductions may have little effect on economic growth – even as they drain government coffers of revenues needed for crucial economic and social goals.
more...
School is often challenging and frustrating for African American males. Too often, they fall behind their peers, get poor grades, and fail to take advanced courses – or even graduate from high school. They are also more likely to be expelled or disciplined for various offenses, including quite minor ones. Failures or bad experiences in school can put young black males on the road to failure and even imprisonment later in life.
Teachers play a crucial role in helping African American males succeed – they can be pivotal to breaking cycles of frustration and failure. Research suggests that by the time students enter high school, they will spend more time with teachers than with parents. Because teachers weigh so heavily in student psychosocial development, they can boost African American boys and male teens. Yet teachers will not realize their potential to help unless they learn to better understand the perspectives and behaviors of African American males and respond to them in ways that foster positive developmental outcomes. Teachers must develop self-conscious cultural understandings and skills to guide and inspire African American males in their classrooms. more...
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, it is a good time to ask how well the safety net for America’s poor families with children is holding up. New or expanded efforts to aid the poor were launched in the 1960s, some of which have since persisted and evolved, while others have been fundamentally revamped. What does research tell us about the effectiveness of the original and revised efforts – in the key areas of food programs, cash help, and support for low-income working families? more...
Research to Improve Policy: The Scholars Strategy Network seeks to improve public policy and strengthen democracy by organizing scholars working in America's colleges and universities. SSN's founding director is Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.