Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
Web version: [link removed]
** Aug. 19, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------
Five Facts About American Public Education
Every year, RAND researchers survey thousands of teachers, principals, and superintendents through the American Educator Panels. And we recently launched two new panels: the American Youth Panel and the American Parents Panel. Together, these resources provide a complete set of views on the state of public education.
As the new school year gets underway, it's a perfect time to review some of what we've learned. Here are five key findings:
- Many students are bored with math. About half of middle and high schoolers are losing interest during their math lessons about half or more of the time.
- About half of educators serving multilingual youth feel not at all or only somewhat prepared to teach these students.
- Female teachers have been consistently more likely than male teachers to report frequent job-related stress. In 2025, that gap widened to 22 percentage points.
- More teachers are using high-quality curricula. In fact, nearly half of teachers said they regularly used a standards-aligned material. That proportion was unthinkable a decade ago.
- Chronic absenteeism--students missing 10 percent or more of school days--is still a problem. In roughly half of urban school districts, more than 30 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2024-2025 school year.
Read more: [link removed]
China, Smart Cities, and the Middle East
China is leading dozens of smart city projects across the Middle East. While smart city technology can improve public services and safety, it can also be used to suppress dissent, invade privacy, and reinforce authoritarian control. That's why China's growing role in smart cities may raise concerns. A new RAND paper explores these potential risks and what they might mean for U.S.-China competition and America's relationships in the Middle East.
Read more: [link removed]
A Close Look at Veteran Health Care Coverage
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is a health care system, not an insurance program. Many veterans enrolled in VHA keep private or government-subsidized insurance so they can choose where to seek care. (In 2023, about 84 percent of VHA enrollees reported having some form of insurance coverage.) RAND's Erin Taylor recently examined how insurance coverage interacts with VHA care and identified situations that could lead to duplicative payments.
Read more: [link removed]
** RAND Recommends
------------------------------------------------------------
- Following the release of the White House's AI Action Plan, RAND researchers provide a primer for biosecurity researchers.
[link removed]
- RAND's William Courtney discusses nuclear nonproliferation and the use of hard power to deter nuclear rogues.
[link removed]
- Protecting children's sleep is one of the best ways to help them succeed in and out of the classroom, says RAND's Wendy Troxel.
[link removed]
** Events
------------------------------------------------------------
Health Insurance for Veterans Age 65 and Over
Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025 (Online)
[link removed]
RAND's Disaster Recovery Tracking Tool
Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 (Online)
[link removed]
The Future of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025 (Online)
[link removed]
** Policy Minded, RAND's Flagship Podcast
------------------------------------------------------------
On Policy Minded, we pick the brains of the world's top policy experts. In each episode, RAND researchers join us for conversations that go beyond the headlines--bringing you insights you can't find anywhere else.
Subscribe now: [link removed]
** Follow RAND
------------------------------------------------------------
RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.
Connect with us on:
LinkedIn: [link removed]
X: [link removed]
Instagram: [link removed]
Facebook: [link removed]
Privacy Policy: [link removed]
Unsubscribe to stop receiving these emails: [link removed]
Manage your subscriptions
[link removed]
RAND
1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
