Michael Petrilli
@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social
President of the Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, proud father.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Yes. As I wrote to Mike, reformers shouldn't fetishize endless triangulations towards the perceived political center—not least because that center is nothing fixed. Serious progressive reform should be presented in strenuously progressive terms about fairness, justice, and access to opportunity.
Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead
SCHOOLED | Tuesday, 11/25/25
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Yes. As I wrote to Mike, reformers shouldn't fetishize endless triangulations towards the perceived political center—not least because that center is nothing fixed. Serious progressive reform should be presented in strenuously progressive terms about fairness, justice, and access to opportunity.
Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead
SCHOOLED | Tuesday, 11/25/25
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Blue-state ed reform is different, not dead
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
So argues @mpolikoff.bsky.social @conorpwilliams.bsky.social Heather Peske, and Marguerite Roza.
Do you agree?
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/blue-state...
Wait, Betsy DeVos was...right?
Too bad the teacher wasn't armed.
(It sounds like everyone is going to be OK)
Too bad the teacher wasn't armed.
(It sounds like everyone is going to be OK)
3 schoolchildren seriously injured in grizzly bear attack in British Columbia www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Grizzly bear attack in British Columbia seriously injures 3 schoolchildren
Teachers used bear spray and a bear banger to drive the animal away, according to Canadian authorities. A parent said one teacher bore “the whole brunt of it.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Wait, Betsy DeVos was...right?
Too bad the teacher wasn't armed.
(It sounds like everyone is going to be OK)
Too bad the teacher wasn't armed.
(It sounds like everyone is going to be OK)
3 schoolchildren seriously injured in grizzly bear attack in British Columbia www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Grizzly bear attack in British Columbia seriously injures 3 schoolchildren
Teachers used bear spray and a bear banger to drive the animal away, according to Canadian authorities. A parent said one teacher bore “the whole brunt of it.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:42 PM
3 schoolchildren seriously injured in grizzly bear attack in British Columbia www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
It’s a big deal IF the Dems don’t win or there are more pressing matters for them address.
November 18, 2025 at 7:15 PM
It’s a big deal IF the Dems don’t win or there are more pressing matters for them address.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Yes nothing like that “swift” recreation of an entire federal department that has existed and worked together for half a century. 🙄
Everyone is treating this like a big deal. IMO it's not...they will move some boxes (and people) around, and, if a Democrat wins in 2028, it will be swiftly undone. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Trump administration to announce dismantling of some of Education Dept.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March seeking to close the department, but only Congress has the power to do that.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Yes nothing like that “swift” recreation of an entire federal department that has existed and worked together for half a century. 🙄
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I mean, either you think it matters that the federal government run in a rational, effective, cost-effective manner, or you don't. If you do, this is a bad idea in the "real world." It all trickles down to students eventually.
November 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I mean, either you think it matters that the federal government run in a rational, effective, cost-effective manner, or you don't. If you do, this is a bad idea in the "real world." It all trickles down to students eventually.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I can't agree, it will be a big deal to student loan borrowers, children in need, higher ed orgs, and so on.
Just because it can be undone with another admin does not mean that many people won't be screwed over for long after AND the effects rolled back in a timely fashion, if ever.
Just because it can be undone with another admin does not mean that many people won't be screwed over for long after AND the effects rolled back in a timely fashion, if ever.
Everyone is treating this like a big deal. IMO it's not...they will move some boxes (and people) around, and, if a Democrat wins in 2028, it will be swiftly undone. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Trump administration to announce dismantling of some of Education Dept.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March seeking to close the department, but only Congress has the power to do that.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I can't agree, it will be a big deal to student loan borrowers, children in need, higher ed orgs, and so on.
Just because it can be undone with another admin does not mean that many people won't be screwed over for long after AND the effects rolled back in a timely fashion, if ever.
Just because it can be undone with another admin does not mean that many people won't be screwed over for long after AND the effects rolled back in a timely fashion, if ever.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Not sure if I agree with that. The big questions for me are whether the quality of service changes and whether operations become more or less efficient. There seems to be more downside risk than upside benefit over the next few years.
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Not sure if I agree with that. The big questions for me are whether the quality of service changes and whether operations become more or less efficient. There seems to be more downside risk than upside benefit over the next few years.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Everyone is treating this like a big deal. IMO it's not...they will move some boxes (and people) around, and, if a Democrat wins in 2028, it will be swiftly undone. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Trump administration to announce dismantling of some of Education Dept.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March seeking to close the department, but only Congress has the power to do that.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Everyone is treating this like a big deal. IMO it's not...they will move some boxes (and people) around, and, if a Democrat wins in 2028, it will be swiftly undone. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
3) Hanushek and Rivkin found working conditions play a larger role in teacher retention between sites. They note a few areas of potential investment that would be more effective than salary increases: behavior supports and improved leadership to start.
hanushek.stanford.edu/publications...
hanushek.stanford.edu/publications...
Pay, Working Conditions, and Teacher Quality | Eric A. Hanushek
Eric Hanushek and Steven Rivkin examine how salary and working conditions affect the quality of instruction in the classroom. The wages of teachers relative to those of other college graduates have fa...
hanushek.stanford.edu
November 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
3) Hanushek and Rivkin found working conditions play a larger role in teacher retention between sites. They note a few areas of potential investment that would be more effective than salary increases: behavior supports and improved leadership to start.
hanushek.stanford.edu/publications...
hanushek.stanford.edu/publications...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
2) If early-career earnings for credentialed teachers are higher for those hired into teaching roles, it suggests that those who pursued other options were wooed by something other than salary.
caldercenter.org/publications...
caldercenter.org/publications...
Out of the Gate, but Not Necessarily Teaching: A Descriptive Portrait of Early-Career Earnings for Those Who Are Credentialed to Teach | CALDER Center
caldercenter.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
2) If early-career earnings for credentialed teachers are higher for those hired into teaching roles, it suggests that those who pursued other options were wooed by something other than salary.
caldercenter.org/publications...
caldercenter.org/publications...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
1) If teachers leaving the profession are typically earning less than they were in the classroom, that working conditions > compensation. Certainly this is complicated by some percentage of leavers who were going to leave no matter what.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
1) If teachers leaving the profession are typically earning less than they were in the classroom, that working conditions > compensation. Certainly this is complicated by some percentage of leavers who were going to leave no matter what.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Data on compensation vs. working conditions are mixed, as this excerpt from @aefpweb.bsky.social Live Handbook notes, but there are three studies that I find more persuasive on compensation vs. working conditions.
livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...
livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...
livehandbook.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Data on compensation vs. working conditions are mixed, as this excerpt from @aefpweb.bsky.social Live Handbook notes, but there are three studies that I find more persuasive on compensation vs. working conditions.
livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...
livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I don't agree that working conditions are more important than pay (these things are very difficult to compare) but it is true at some margin teachers prefer more support staff than higher salaries. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...
Investing in the Teacher Workforce: Experimental Evidence on Teachers’ Preferences - Virginia S. Lovison, Cecilia Hyunjung Mo, 2024
Inadequate compensation is often viewed as the root of teacher workforce challenges despite teacher reports that working conditions matter more. Using an origin...
journals.sagepub.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I don't agree that working conditions are more important than pay (these things are very difficult to compare) but it is true at some margin teachers prefer more support staff than higher salaries. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I don't know that it's strange: the literature already points to working conditions playing a larger role than compensation in teachers' decision to change employers or leave the profession.
November 4, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I don't know that it's strange: the literature already points to working conditions playing a larger role than compensation in teachers' decision to change employers or leave the profession.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I wouldn't characterize the main point of school funding reform as boosting teacher salaries. It helps students - @kirabojackson.bsky.social's opening plenary at SREE covered that in great detail.
The teacher compensation reform literature seems a bit more mixed. There's room for improvement.
The teacher compensation reform literature seems a bit more mixed. There's room for improvement.
November 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I wouldn't characterize the main point of school funding reform as boosting teacher salaries. It helps students - @kirabojackson.bsky.social's opening plenary at SREE covered that in great detail.
The teacher compensation reform literature seems a bit more mixed. There's room for improvement.
The teacher compensation reform literature seems a bit more mixed. There's room for improvement.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
I think that's partially right, but if anything the empirical evidence suggests unions limit this trend from being even more extreme edworkingpapers.com/sites/defaul...
edworkingpapers.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I think that's partially right, but if anything the empirical evidence suggests unions limit this trend from being even more extreme edworkingpapers.com/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
exactly and many schools of choice actively market their small classes/staffing ratios. this trend appears to be a market response—which doesn't necessarily mean it's optimal!—as much as anything else.
November 4, 2025 at 2:18 PM
exactly and many schools of choice actively market their small classes/staffing ratios. this trend appears to be a market response—which doesn't necessarily mean it's optimal!—as much as anything else.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
The expensive private schools rich people send their kids to are full of moderate-salary teachers in very small classes.
November 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The expensive private schools rich people send their kids to are full of moderate-salary teachers in very small classes.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
it's also notable that the same trend (greater investment in people than salaries) show up in private schools. for better or worse this may reflect schools' response to what parents want.
November 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
it's also notable that the same trend (greater investment in people than salaries) show up in private schools. for better or worse this may reflect schools' response to what parents want.
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
what is the evidence that higher salaries are a better investment than more people? I think the research is mixed and unclear here. See eg www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Rent-Seeking through collective bargaining: Teachers unions and education production☆
We explore how teachers unions affect education production by comparing outcomes between districts allocating new tax revenue amidst collective bargai…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
what is the evidence that higher salaries are a better investment than more people? I think the research is mixed and unclear here. See eg www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Michael Petrilli
Yes, but the structure of that investment matters. While raising teacher salaries across the board might increase teacher quality some, it's likely an investment that is a mile wide and inch deep. I'd invest in the pain points in the labor market, i.e., in some subjects and hard to staff schools. +👇
November 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Yes, but the structure of that investment matters. While raising teacher salaries across the board might increase teacher quality some, it's likely an investment that is a mile wide and inch deep. I'd invest in the pain points in the labor market, i.e., in some subjects and hard to staff schools. +👇