What It Will Take to Reform Higher Ed

Reforming higher education boils down to one central issue, John D. Sailer argues: the talent pipeline. “If we can reconfigure the academic talent pipeline and ensure that those who believe in the classical mission of the university both choose academia and prosper in it, then the reform movement will succeed,” he writes. “If not, no list of policies, from securing campus free speech to dismantling DEI offices, will restore public trust in our universities.”

Read his analysis of what it will take to bring long-overdue reform to America’s universities.

New York parents face chronic unpredictability. Sudden shocks like a spike in school tuition or a last-minute daycare closure can be enough for families to start rethinking life in the city.

An exodus may already be playing out. Parents of more than 90,000 children under age five left the city between 2020 and 2023—even as the overall adult population increased. High costs are at least part of the reason, Liena Zagare writes. Median rent is up about 30 percent since 2019, and daycare costs are up 23 percent. 

New York can do more to keep these families. Zagare lays out four steps the next mayor should take, from childcare vouchers to zoning changes.

In her reelection campaign next year, New York Attorney General Letitia James may find the going tougher than expected. Yes, the state remains reliably blue, but it is shifting rightward, meaning that Democrats like James will have to work a little harder.

Donald Trump, for example, won a higher percentage of the vote in New York City than any Republican presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush, Joseph Burns observes. And Long Island, which used to be politically competitive, is now deeply red.

Read about some of the other challenges Burns believes James will face as she seeks another term in office.

Earlier this month, the Education Department directed states to implement the “Unsafe School Choice Option” provision, which requires states to define what constitutes a dangerous school environment. Students in such unsafe environments must be given access to a safe public school.

This is an important step, writes Neeraja Deshpande, but states will have to go further. The federal government plays a limited role in education, and only eight states plus Puerto Rico have ever identified any schools as “persistently dangerous.” Other states have failed to do so because they’ve not observed the law.  

Still, Deshpande argues, the “guidance on unsafe schools is more than just enforcement of a long-ignored law—it’s a step to restoring sanity and order in education.”

“No one in Washington seems to care about our national debt. The money we pay on interest alone will sink us. We should be cutting spending and raising taxes.”

Photo credits: Aaron M. Sprecher / Contributor / Getty Images News via Getty Images