Dear Colleagues:
You never know what a given year has in store. That’s certainly the case for education today, as parent concerns include COVID- and union-induced school closures along with critical race theory-based content in classrooms. Higher education is no exception either, with COVID mandates, ongoing threats to free speech, and student loan issues loom on the horizon.
 
However, it has been a historic year for education choice. Check out some of our best work from 2021!
  
Parents and school boards. Back in January, Lindsey and Jonathan, along with our Heritage colleagues Emilie Gao (now with Alliance Defending Freedom) and Mike Gonzalez were on the forefront of the fight for parental empowerment. They published the results from a first-of-its-kind survey of parents and school board members <[link removed]>. To better understand the views of parents and school board members, the survey asked questions about the 1619 project, the Success Sequence, sexual orientation and gender identity, and other current issues.
  
The opinions of school board members generally align with those of parents, though differences exist… Policymakers should make it easier for parents to select schools that reflect their values and goals for their children. Parents also have a role to play, making their voices heard at the local school board level.
  
COVID-19 fuels school choice. Jonathan and Lindsey insightfully identified the pain points in the current education system <[link removed]> on which the COVID-19 pandemic pressed hard. Through examples such as “learning pods,” many parents showed that they were able to innovate and find the best educational situation for their children, unlike local public schools. COVID-19 was a sad example of why all families need maximal education choice. Here’s the punchline:
  
In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools for in-person instruction for some 55 million schoolchildren, families gave themselves permission to find—or create—the best learning option for their children. Early reports suggest that there could be a permanent uptick in the number of families who choose to homeschool, use a learning pod or microschool, or who enroll their children in private schools.
  
Policymakers should focus first and foremost on redesigning student assignment and school spending policies so that dollars fund students, rather than systems, and allow parents to choose the best learning option for their child.
The DEI trilogy. Dr. Jay P. Greene joined our team in June and hit the ground running. Along with co-author James Paul, he conducted a series of three reports identifying the cancerous growth of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activity in all levels of education.
  
With Diversity University: DEI Bloat in the Academy <[link removed]>, Jay showed just how big the DEI problem is on campus:
  
The average university has 45.1 people tasked with promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some universities have many more. For example, the University of Michigan has 163 DEI personnel.
  
Then, in Equity Elementary: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” Staff in Public Schools <[link removed]>, he showed how it’s seeping into K-12 public schools in the form of “Chief Diversity Officers,” and similar positions, that exist in 39 percent of public school districts and exacerbate racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps:
  
CDOs do not and cannot promote equality in student outcomes; instead, they create inequities in political power by using taxpayer funds to aid one side in two-sided debates over controversial issues.
  
And most recently, in Inclusion Delusion: The Antisemitism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff at Universities <[link removed]>, Jay exposed the true attitudes of DEI staff on campuses, and they do not reflect inclusivity:
  
In total, there were 633 tweets regarding Israel compared to 216 regarding China—three times as many—despite the fact that China is 155 times as populous as Israel and has 467 times the land mass.
  
…Of the 633 tweets regarding Israel, 605 (96 percent) were critical of the Jewish state. Of the 216 tweets regarding China, 133 (62 percent) expressed favorable sentiment.
  
Check out all three reports and the interactive visualizations with each!
  
Fighting the changes to Title IX. Spurred by the confirmation of Catherine Lhamon as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and other actions from the current Administration, John forcefully warned <[link removed]> of a return to Obama-era rules and enforcement regarding claims of sexual assault on campuses:
  
Foundational to a free society are due process and free speech protections, which could again be under attack if campus kangaroo courts return.
                 
Students must have full protection of their due-process rights. Rolling back the protections of the 2020 rewrite of Title IX will undermine the procedures for fair adjudication while failing to prevent sexual violence. And, more innocent students could be wrongly punished.
  
Looking forward to the new year!  Check the bookshelves for Jonathan’s book, Splintered: Critical Race Theory and the Progressive War on Truth, which comes out in March 2022. You can pre-order your copy here <[link removed]>!
  

We will be back in January with more exciting work. We wish you all Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Lindsey Burke

Director, Center for Education Policy
Mark A. Kolokotrones Fellow in Education
Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity
The Heritage Foundation

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