The Lens

CRPE’s blog: A space where we look around the corner, comment on relevant issues, and propose new ideas.

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Paul Hill

Public school districts are facing an existential threat. Demographic shifts and school choice policies are exacerbating declining enrollment. A diminishing role for the federal Department of Education alongside broad economic uncertainty could further erode state and local revenues. These trends threaten student outcomes and teacher jobs, as well as district solvency.

Must-Reads

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Heather J. Hough

In American education, the scars of the “accountability wars” still run deep. More than two decades after the federal No Child Left Behind Act established punitive, high-profile accountability requirements for America’s K–12 schools, states and districts remain wary of debates over testing, student performance, and school improvement.

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Auditi Chakravarty

Depending on where you sit in the education ecosystem, 2025 has felt either deeply discouraging or full of possibility. On one hand, earlier this year, the federal government signaled retreat from its commitment to education research, and just this week, the Trump administration took further steps to dismantle the Department of Education.

Latest Publications

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Reckoning with Reality: The Case for a New Union Strategy in K–12

Paul Hill

Public school districts are facing an existential threat. Demographic shifts and school choice policies are exacerbating declining enrollment. A diminishing role for the federal Department of Education alongside broad economic uncertainty could further erode state and local revenues.

  • The Lens    

A Truce in the Accountability Wars

Heather J. Hough

In American education, the scars of the “accountability wars” still run deep. More than two decades after the federal No Child Left Behind Act established punitive, high-profile accountability requirements for America’s K–12 schools, states and districts remain wary of debates over testing, student performance, and school improvement.

  • Blogs    
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Meeting the AI Moment Requires a New Education R&D Infrastructure

Auditi Chakravarty

Depending on where you sit in the education ecosystem, 2025 has felt either deeply discouraging or full of possibility. On one hand, earlier this year, the federal government signaled retreat from its commitment to education research, and just this week, the Trump administration took further steps to dismantle the Department of Education.

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A “Zero-Based Budgeting” Approach for High School Course Requirements in the Age of AI

Mike Petrilli

For better or worse, AI, and especially chatbots associated with Large Language Models, are already changing the daily rhythms of education here and around the world.

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