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Dear John,
It is week 242 in our new reality and we are thinking about the work ahead.

“A year after D.C. leaders vowed to crack down on student attendance problems, data shows truancy in the city’s public schools has returned to pre-pandemic levels while chronic absenteeism is at its lowest since schools closed nearly five years ago,” writes ([link removed]) Lauren Lumpkin in the Washington Post. It's a reminder of the progress that is possible and the changes that matter to families. Delivering those gains, year in and year out, should be the focus of our local representatives no matter where they live.

Last time ([link removed]) we shared stories of resilience from across the country. This week we take stock of the results in local elections and put a spotlight on the push to get parents the information they need to make the best decisions for their children.

Best,

Marc Porter Magee, PhD
50CAN Founder and CEO

@marcportermagee ([link removed])

Look beyond the media spotlight to find key local elections that matter
Election season at the state and local level receives only a small fraction of the attention of the presidential race. Yet, the vast majority of educational policies that matter for kids are made by these elected officials.

Jonathan Nikkila, Executive Vice President of the 50CAN Action Fund, shared more about the races the Action Fund participated in, writing ([link removed]) , “Overall this election cycle, we supported 79 successful candidates and supported 11 who lost their elections–an 87% win rate. A majority of the races were highly competitive, yet we saw success even in those contests. In fact, in the general election we were fortunate to back the winning candidate in 15 of 18 races where the race was considered competitive.” The bipartisan victories include a new education-champion Democratic Governor in Delaware and seven Republican legislators in Georgia who were in vulnerable, swing districts.

Other political organizations in the sector saw similarly impressive results. Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation For Children, shared ([link removed]) that “AFC’s political affiliates spent more than $9.5 million across 15 states, ultimately defeating 67% of incumbents targeted (compared to the national average win-rate of 5%). We pledged that if you’re a candidate or lawmaker who opposes education freedom, you would be a target, and if you are a champion for parents, we’ll be your shield.” Those defeated incumbents included Texas Republicans defeated in the primary process, which has opened up the strong potential of a legislative victory on a statewide ESA in 2025.

This election cycle, Leadership for Educational Equity had over 300 members run for office. “From local school boards and beyond, the diversity and range of positions that our members ran for showcases the dedication and desire to serve their communities with an equity-minded and values-driven approach,” they wrote ([link removed]) , also sharing that “two-third of the members who ran, won.”

* The task this week is to celebrate the hundreds of student-centered, education champions who were elected into state and local offices this cycle, and begin planning for races in 2025.

Reimagine–rather than shrink–the education information available to parents
“After a decisive vote in favor of Massachusetts ballot question 2 on Tuesday, high schoolers will no longer need to pass statewide standardized tests in order to graduate, a change that will go into immediate effect for the class of 2025,” reports ([link removed]) Amanda Geduld for The 74 Million. “The measure, which does not eliminate the administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, but rather its role as a graduation requirement, passed with 59% of voters in support and 41% opposed.”

The removal of the graduation requirement is yet sign of retrenchment of assessment and accountability, which reached a heyday during the Obama administration before cooling in the face of parent anger at overtesting and well-funded opposition from teachers unions.

AEI’s Rick Hess suggests ([link removed]) that the MCAS change is part of a broader pattern that’s playing out in both red and blue states: “What’s going on? I fear it’s a case study in the ‘new sugar-frosted politics’ of education. Fifteen or 20 years ago, education policy was dominated by an eat-your-vegetables ethos that celebrated rigor, results, and efficiency. For Democrats and Republicans during the Bush-Obama years, a crucial mark of seriousness in education was the willingness to insist that schools be accountable for student outcomes. Politically speaking, this insistence on accountability was a mixed bag. Its costs were immediate and concrete; the promised benefits were long-term and ephemeral.”

Fordham’s Mike Petrilli, on the other hand, observes ([link removed]) a much more paristan pattern: “It’s red states, not blue, that have maintained real accountability systems, with A-through-F or 5-star ratings. The progress is palpable. That’s because in Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and other Republican bastions, the populist, Trump wing of the party is not in full control. Normies have a lot of say—and in most cases the governor’s mansion. Strong executive and legislative leadership is making a difference.”
One bipartisan approach being explored across the 50CAN network is expanding school report cards to cover more information that is valuable for parents. That’s the focus of a new memo to the 50CAN Executive Directors from 50CAN's William E. Simon Policy Fellow Cooper Conway, which we’re making available ([link removed]) publicly for other advocates. “A new era of data collection is urgently needed—one that reflects the broad range of learning environments students now navigate and provides families with transparent, actionable insights,” Cooper writes. “Unlike the narrow focus of the No Child Left Behind era, which centered on annual standardized tests in core subjects for use by state agencies, today’s landscape demands a more holistic and family-centered approach. It’s time to move beyond the confines of the traditional classroom and embrace an approach to education data that captures learning both inside and outside
school walls.”

* The task this week is to read Cooper’s memo ([link removed]) and consider, in the face of weakening accountability systems, the full suite of information that parents deserve about the progress of their children.


The State of Educational Opportunity in America ([link removed]) : A Survey of 20,000 Parents continues to drive the conversation over the future of education. 50CAN’s Marc Porter Magee was featured ([link removed]) on The Education Gadfly Podcast with Fordham’s Mike Petrilli. HawaiiKidsCAN’s David Miyashiro discussed ([link removed]) the results on Hawaii Public Radio. NewMexicoKidsCAN’s Amanda Aragon joined ([link removed]) the Land of Enchantment podcast to discuss gaps between parent perception on the survey and achievement results. ConnCAN’s Steven Hernández joined ([link removed]) Voice of CT to discuss why the state is near the top of the rankings across multiple
questions. And Indy Politics sat down ([link removed]) with IQE’s Betsy Wiley on the results, particularly questions pertaining to school choice.

Additionally, we’re thankful for our partners at the Cardinal Institute in West Virginia, who launched ([link removed]) their state survey report last week, noting that parents in the state are unsatisfied with the system and suggesting ([link removed]) reasons why that might be the case.

GeorgiaCAN graduated the tenth cohort of their EPIC advocacy training, bringing the total number of advocates trained through the program to just shy of 500. The graduates attended school board meetings, testified in front of the state legislature and engaged their community on education changes.

CarolinaCAN’s Marcus Brandon was the keynote speaker for the inaugural Mothers of Color for School Choice event with founder (and former 50CAN fellow) Carla Franklin, who said, “The achievement test scores, the proficiency of our students is not what it needs to be. As a black mom who cares about all children, I recognize that some of the problem is poverty levels, meeting children regardless of race where they are and getting them to proficiency and beyond.”

Is the US Department of Education a goner? 50CAN President Derrell Bradford told ([link removed]) The New York Times he thinks it’s here to stay. “‘I don’t think it’s possible to eliminate the United States Department of Education. That’s a talking point,’ said Derrell Bradford. But, he added, ‘the idea that local entities should be in control of education at the local level? That is very popular among both Democrats and Republicans.’” Derrell’s appearance in the Times comes after his participation in AEI’s post-election debrief ([link removed]) and joining DFI’s Ginny Gentles on the Freedom to Learn podcast ([link removed]) .

John Coons, the Berkeley Law professor and long-standing champion of school choice, took to the pages ([link removed]) of Education Next to express his appreciation for Mike Petrilli and Derrell Bradford’s essays on whether choice should be open to all students or reserved for low-income families.

Competition from the growth of charter schools is associated ([link removed]) with significant increases in reading achievement and a decline in absenteeism, according to a new study covered by Fordham.

The charter school founded in the Bronx by AEI’s Ian Rowe is the subject of a new documentary feature that looks ([link removed]) into the school’s values, culture and academics.

Newark Public Schools is the recipient ([link removed]) of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that the district will use to expand the Khanmigo AI tutoring program after a pilot received sterling reviews by teachers and students.

CRPE launched ([link removed]) The Math Hub, a new interactive portal for both research and expertise in the instruction of mathematics. Coming soon to the site is an evidence map, which will summarize peer-reviewed articles.

The time has come for career and technical education for every student, write ([link removed]) Michael B. Horn and Daniel Curtis for Education Next, presenting several case studies of bright spots that policymakers and other operators can learn from.

EdWorkingPapers is out ([link removed]) with a new study on Massachusetts’ career and technical education program, which found that low-income students of color were more likely to attend and complete college as a result of participation.


Students from HawaiiKidsCAN’s youth advocacy training program gather for a picture on the floor of Parliament before meeting with peer advocates and the Speaker of the Assembly in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The trip is part of a student ambassador partnership, which brought Irish students to Hawaii earlier in the year, and seeks to deepen advocacy training while expanding students’ horizons through the international experience. Mariah, one of the students on the trip, reflected, “I never knew much about the history and culture of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland before this trip. But being part of it alongside so many youth advocates has shown me the parallels with Hawaii, particularly around issues like language suppression and, most importantly, revitalization. From one island to another, there’s so much solidarity to honor, celebrate and continue. We are all interconnected, and that's something we must rely on as we work to make meaningful change in our communities.”

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ABOUT 50CAN

50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now is a nonprofit organization that works at the local level to advocate for a high-quality education for all kids, regardless of their address.

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#413
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