Detroit has a long and complicated history with housing instability, and obtaining safe and stable housing is a significant challenge, particularly for low-income residents. For many renters, housing quality is poor, rents are high, and eviction is common. In 2017, 16% of households with children in Detroit reported being either evicted or forced…

A quality education is the primary instrument of social and economic mobility in the United States. As open-access institutions, community colleges are the gateway to postsecondary education for millions of Americans. Many of these students would be unable to afford college without federal resources, such as student financial aid and tax credits.…

Over the last three decades, college costs have increased nearly four times faster than median family income. Financial aid has not filled the growing gap, and the share of college costs not covered by financial aid or what the family is expected to contribute has risen sharply. Rising costs and rising debt make college a riskier investment for…

In recent years, parents have benefited from a significant expansion of educational options for their children. Parents have many more opportunities than just a few years ago to choose from an array of public school options, including charter, virtual, and magnet schools. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the…

Since the early 1980s, college tuitions have soared, and state and federal governments have sought new ways to help students and families meet the costs of attendance. Annual state and federal appropriations to traditional student aid programs have more than doubled in the past two decades. In addition, the federal government created the Hope…

Critiques Chester Finn's analysis (EA 518 431, this issue) of teachers unions, outlining the ambiguities in Finn's theories. (MD)

Financial planning strategies for families who expect to pay most of their children's college costs are offered. Information on changes mandated by the 1986 Tax Reform Act is provided. Topics include: closing the gap between higher education and family savings; assessing the financial risks and rewards of investments; gifts; understanding the…

Reviews the concept of governmental funding of private schools and whether this would be the means whereby unwanted and obstrusive regulations would be applied to those schools. Government funding in Spain, Malta, and France was the mechanism by which those governments extended control over church-related schools. (MD)

Designed for those interested in the possible effects of the tuition tax credit plan espoused by the Reagan administration, the document presents two polar views on the subject. Glazer's article, "The Future under Tuition Tax Credits: The Case for Homogeneity in Schools," is presented from the perspective of one who favors such tax…

Questioning the desirability of whether private schools should receive federal or state aid, the paper outlines how such aid can cause entanglement problems for private schools. In accepting governmental aid, private schools can lose their autonomy, including (1) the ability to select and dismiss students with autonomy, (2) the ability to advocate…

Assessing the Reagan Administration's first 3 years in office, this paper evaluates the administration's inability to enact its education agenda, which included reductions of federal regulations, cuts in education spending, tuition tax credits, prayer in the public schools, and abolishing the Department of Education. The consolidation of programs…

This document presents an action plan developed by the Minnesota Early Care and Education Finance Commission during two years of study and deliberation to finance a state early care and education system that supports families and is focused on school readiness. Recommendations are presented in three categories: (1) more time and tools for better…

There are parents and students who are to be won or lost depending on which sector--public or private--answers their calls for programs to match their learning styles and desire for rigor, vitality, and variety. This report examines where choice has evolved from, what it offers parents and students, and how its disappearance could affect this…

"A Nation at Risk" and other recent reports have focused public attention on excellence in education. During the same period, the federal government has cut aid to education by almost 20 percent and consolidated federal funding into block grant programs, which some critics have claimed are less efficient than programs before…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This September 17, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Just Deserts: A New Assistant Professor Wonders About the Price of…