Sean Corcoran
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seanpcorcoran.org
Sean Corcoran
@seanpcorcoran.org

Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University, lover of opera and ice cream. Views expressed are my own.

Education 80%
Political science 5%
Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

By Devon Lum and Haley Willis

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...
Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com

Here is the man Kristi Noem says “approached officers w/ a 9mm semiautomatic gun…who arrived to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement” moments before he was shot multiple times (while pinned). He is holding his phone and shielding his eyes from the chemical agent being sprayed in his face

Is there an organization or website that is aggregating the daily atrocities of ICE? Every day—and sometimes multiple times per day—there are new, horrific stories. It feels like most are lost in the doom scroll and forgotten by the public.
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.

I try to remind myself that half of these accounts are likely operating out of Eastern Europe

Reposted by Sean P. Corcoran

Great insights by @csattinbajaj.bsky.social on how schools can support immigrant students, parents, and the teachers who care about them.
Federal immigration enforcement near schools disrupts attendance, traumatizes students and damages their academic performance
While federal immigrant agents need to produce a judicial warrant to enter a classroom, they can freely operate in public spaces at and around schools.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Sean P. Corcoran

Iowa's voucher program working as intended:

$700M spent in first three years
Private school enrollment ⬆️2,536 students (just 0.5% of total public enrollment)
Two largest public school districts announce multimillion dollar cuts, staffing reductions, & school closures

www.kcrg.com/2026/01/20/w...
Cedar Rapids school board cuts nearly $13 million from budget
The Cedar Rapids School Board voted to cut nearly $13 million from its budget during a meeting Monday night that lasted more than four hours, addressing a shortfall caused by declining enrollment.
www.kcrg.com

Reposted by Sean P. Corcoran

This study started with a convo over coffee w/ Huriya Jabbar in 2017! We wrote two unsuccessful grant proposals, finally got internal funding, and then struggled through 4 journals to get the null findings published. Persistence and great colleagues for the win! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
The Paradox of School Choice? Experimental Evidence on Choice Architecture, Anxiety, and Satisfaction - Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Huriya Jabbar, Fatima Varner, Gloria Stout, Kathleen Holloway, 2026
School choice policy is often touted as offering more choices to families whose school options are limited by traditional zoning. However, too many options or t...
journals.sagepub.com

How can I link directly to this video (the best I've seen of this incident)? (For other platforms)
Sickening
Sunday, at least 7 ICE agents stormed a house and took an elderly man out into the freezing cold, wearing only his underwear and a blanket.

He was a member of the Hmong community, which came to the area from Laos in the 1970s after siding with the US in the Vietnam War.

Notice the suppressors
1/2
Sunday, at least 7 ICE agents stormed a house and took an elderly man out into the freezing cold, wearing only his underwear and a blanket.

He was a member of the Hmong community, which came to the area from Laos in the 1970s after siding with the US in the Vietnam War.

Notice the suppressors
1/2

Remember those old “what’s wrong with this picture” games? (This is the Department of Labor official account)

The dehumanizing language in this press release from our own government makes me feel physically ill
I posted about the fifth detained death less than 24 hours ago. Now, ICE reports its sixth detained death of 2026. Call your representatives in Congress now and tell them no more funding for detention. ICE clearly can’t handle it.
I posted about the fifth detained death less than 24 hours ago. Now, ICE reports its sixth detained death of 2026. Call your representatives in Congress now and tell them no more funding for detention. ICE clearly can’t handle it.

Here is what local clown and US Representative Andy Ogles is posting elsewhere

...justified by indifference. To laugh about it from the halls of power is to dishonor every child denied opportunity, every family forced to fight for dignity, and every generation that marched, organized, and sacrificed for equal access to education.” (2/2)
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
NH lawmaker remains defiant following backlash over leaked Signal chat advocating ‘segregated schools’
Republican Rep. Kristin Noble’s alleged comments in a private chat about segregated schools have ignited sharp criticism from education advocates
www.yahoo.com

What a beautifully written statement. 10/10, no notes: "Segregation is not a relic to be mocked; it is a living scar carved into our schools, our communities, and our democracy...It was built through violence, enforced by law, and... (1/2) www.yahoo.com/news/article...
NH lawmaker remains defiant following backlash over leaked Signal chat advocating ‘segregated schools’
Republican Rep. Kristin Noble’s alleged comments in a private chat about segregated schools have ignited sharp criticism from education advocates
www.yahoo.com

This is an incredible collection of photos. The look on this woman's face says it all.
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

Strange how the bombing of alleged Venezuelan drug boats stopped after Maduro was captured. Did the national security threat they posed just disappear? Is it possible all those people were killed for show?

Amazing crowd in Nashville for #ICEoutforGood despite the cold and late notice @indivisnashville.bsky.social

Amazing crowd in Nashville for #ICEoutforGood despite the cold and late notice @indivisnashville.bsky.social

I read a bad review of HBOs Task somewhere and wrote it off, but it turned out to be one of the most gripping series I’ve ever seen. Deep characters and storylines., every character is interesting and the writing and acting are off the charts great. Highly recommend
So when authorities say “she tried to run over an officer,” that is not a neutral description. It is a claim of intent that can be used to justify lethal force after the fact.

When the state kills first and invents the threat afterward, it is not policing, it is death squad behavior. /end

Reposted by Sean P. Corcoran

Those indicators are the difference between “the vehicle moved” and “the vehicle was used as the weapon.” If they are not present, certainty about intent is not analysis, it is narrative management. 6/7
To ring in the new year, I'm excited to announce the launch of the Politics of Education Lab (PEdL) at the Stanford GSE. The goal is to advance understanding of the political dimensions of education policymaking to help policymakers and practitioners strengthen school systems.

pedl.stanford.edu
The Politics of Education Lab
pedl.stanford.edu
School has been cancelled tomorrow and Friday across the city of Minneapolis, because our federal government has made it unsafe for children here.
From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Reposted by Sean P. Corcoran

Most Tennessee public school students who use Education Savings Account vouchers aren’t leaving low-performing public schools, while ESA students overall are underperforming their public school peers in both academic achievement and growth. From @itsmelissabrown.bsky.social with @chalkbeat.org.
Most Tennessee students don’t use ESA vouchers to exit low-performing public schools: comptroller • Tennessee Lookout
Most Tennessee public school students who use Education Savings Account vouchers aren’t leaving low-performing public schools.
tennesseelookout.com

"[Cuba] is run by incompetent, senile men"