In this paper, we show that the election of a new school board member causes home values in their neighborhood to rise. This increase is identified using narrowly-decided contests and is driven by non-Democratic members, whose neighborhoods appreciate about 4% on average relative to those of losing candidates. We find that student test scores in…

In order to have a public education system that caters to the cultural, policy, and pedagogical preferences of communities, more citizens need to participate in local school board elections. This report discusses why school board elections should be moved on cycle (i.e., held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of an even…

Following the June 2019 Democratic presidential debates, school integration has unexpectedly emerged as a serious issue in the campaign. Coincidentally, this debate comes at a time when the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) and a growing school diversity movement both inside and outside government are pushing to remove these last…

The first set of Democratic presidential debates in June brought to the spotlight issues of school diversity and equity, as Senator Kamala Harris asserted the importance of school integration, based on her own experience growing up in Berkeley, California, and criticized Vice President Biden for his anti-busing positions (and collaborations) in…

Governments are increasingly publishing information about the performance of the services they provide, in part to help citizens hold their elected representatives accountable for government service outcomes. Yet there is little evidence concerning the influence of information about government service performance on voter behavior. This paper…

Though education has played second fiddle so far to other domestic issues in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the narrowing field includes GOP candidates with compatible views on scaling back the federal role in K-12, but big contrasts in policy specifics and experience. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, is expected to put a…

If Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wins the November election, his ascension could endanger--or dismantle--key Obama administration education initiatives and lead to a slimmed-down and less activist U.S. Department of Education. Scaled back Education Department and cloudy prospects for Obama initiatives are among the scenarios. But…

As the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, Mitt Romney championed aggressive education policies later embraced by the Obama administration and by other states. But for most of his second run at the Republican presidential nomination, voters have heard little about his education record in Massachusetts or initiatives that Mr. Romney was…

Ask Antonio White what he thinks of Race to the Top--President Barack Obama's signature K-12 initiative--and the Florida teacher will tell you the competitive-grant program is a "difficult pill to swallow." Merit pay for teachers based partly on student test scores is "a joke," he says. He's also not a fan of expanding charter…

New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, represents a dramatic shift from his predecessor Michael Bloomberg in the area of education. Bloomberg was a national trendsetter on market reforms focused on privatization, testing, and competition. De Blasio was elected on an agenda of classroom investments, student supports, parent and community…

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey provides policymakers, the media, and the public with objective, advocacy-free information on the perceptions, opinions, and public policy preferences of California residents. This is the 141st PPIC Statewide Survey in a series that was inaugurated in April 1998 and has generated a…

Buried deep within the campaign Web site of Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican explains the principles that define his K-12 agenda: choice, accountability, and teacher quality. But his 25-year congressional record and statements in his current campaign do give a glimpse of what Senator McCain--better known for his views on defense and…

Throughout the presidential campaign, the leading Democrats have been speaking from a similar script on education--until this month, when U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois suggested that he could be persuaded to support private school vouchers. "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was "Let's see if the experiment…

After a grueling primary season this year--for the Democrats, at least--it seems in retrospect that there was something inevitable in the pairing of John McCain and Barack Obama as the two contenders for the presidency in 2008. Two distinct generations, two unique backgrounds, two very different worldviews: white/black, old/young, right/left.…

This article reports that the new class of governors and state legislators to be elected November 4 will inherit financial problems that pose both immediate and long-term threats to existing education programs, while constraining their ability to mount new initiatives. The prospect of a deepening economic slowdown--with state-level budget deficits…