Jonathan Butcher is the Will Skillman fellow in education at The Heritage Foundation and the author of “Splintered: Critical Race Theory and the Progressive War on Truth” (Post Hill Press/Bombardier Books, 2022).
View all authorsEducationCommentary
Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the agency’s sunset is in view, releasing detailed plans to collaborate with other federal agencies. Instead of… Read More
EducationCommentary
How do we know which are the best colleges? Traditional ratings rank schools based on the average GPA or test scores of entering students. But… Read More
EducationCommentary
It’s back-to-school season, and some teachers have promised that the racist ideas from diversity, equity, and inclusion would not be in their classrooms this year…. Read More
LawCommentary
A recent move by the California Senate Appropriations Committee has left families across the state concerned about their rights as the primary decision-makers in their… Read More
LawCommentary
How many students must be harassed before a university tries to stop the offenses? Jewish students at George Washington University are still counting, but in… Read More
EducationCommentary
Like a teacher cleaning the classroom before school opens, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is sweeping out the inefficiencies in her agency—but instead of… Read More
EducationCommentary
“America is not perfect, but perfection is not its promise. Opportunity is. And as long as we remain faithful to that idea, the American Dream will… Read More
SocietyCommentary
LGBTQ advocates have long allied themselves with diversity, equity and inclusion groups. Yet DEI’s legal troubles are causing some corporate sponsors to end their support… Read More
EducationCommentary
“Merit” is making a comeback in higher education. Next stop: U.S. service academies. College officials around the country—including those at some of the most selective… Read More
EducationCommentary
The second Donald Trump administration continues to ferret out racial favoritism in education and the federal workforce, and there is plenty to be found. The… Read More
EducationCommentary
In the name of “equity,” many competitive colleges had stopped using entrance exams in their application process. Now, the pendulum has swung: Realizing that standardized… Read More
EducationCommentary
Will the U.S. Department of Education end with a bang or a whimper? So far this year, President Donald Trump’s executive orders have arrived with… Read More
EducationAnalysis
The U.S. Department of Education is calling on colleges to account for racist and antisemitic incidents on campus—and its move to withhold taxpayer dollars from… Read More
EducationCommentary
For decades, K-12 schools have wandered away from a time-tested, research-based method of teaching reading: phonics. Student scores have plunged to historic lows, but some… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Students are not the only ones who have homework due this semester. Teachers, college professors, and school administrators have a civil rights assignment to turn… Read More
EducationCommentary
Teacher unions are racing to stop greater education choice from spreading to Wyoming. But parents there already know that more education options would be valuable… Read More
EducationCommentary
Two welcome changes from the new White House in its first weeks are the turn away from diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and a… Read More
SocietyCommentary
What do the nation’s largest teacher union and the country’s most conservative governor agree on? Smartphones—specifically, keeping them out of the classroom. In 2023, Florida… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Americans have forgotten how to form families. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the U.S. population will begin to shrink in eight years, which The… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Walmart executives scuttled the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs recently, becoming the latest corporate giant to drop extreme politics after public outcry. Others on… Read More
EducationCommentary
“Pretty disgusting” and “grotesque.” That’s how a Florida parent described an online session for students on “gender” provided by two K-12 virtual public schools in… Read More
EducationCommentary
Today, Nov. 7, is Victims of Communism Day, and this day of remembrance should be a regular part of K-12 school calendars. Legislators in a… Read More
EducationCommentary
Do you know how much you spend per student in your local public school? Surveys find that most Americans cannot answer this question. And public… Read More
The Chinese Communist Party has taken an interest in Michigan—particularly Camp Grayling, a military training facility about 200 miles north of Detroit. The FBI has… Read More
EducationCommentary
After a pause in student loan repayments during the COVID-19 pandemic, borrowers have started paying again. But if history is any guide, some student loan… Read More
EducationCommentary
Critical race theory gripped the nation’s attention after the summer of 2020 and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. According to Google Trends, the… Read More
EducationCommentary
Back-to-school season is here, and with the recent examples of race-based classroom activities and sexually charged curriculum in schools nationwide, parents are right to wonder… Read More
EducationCommentary
A congressional committee’s recent vote should be a message to taxpayers: Yes, it is possible to close the U.S. Department of Education. The House Appropriations… Read More
EducationCommentary
The school year is over, and the results should leave parents and educators with more anxiety than relief. Achievement scores are near historical lows and… Read More
EducationCommentary
Two giants among publishers of children’s books and textbooks are selling the idea of “gender” to small children. But are Americans buying? Scholastic, one of… Read More
