Matters of Policy & Politics

Area 45: Education Reform

Education reform, the civil rights issue of our time?

Matters of Policy & Politics•March 14, 2017
Area 45: Education Reform

Recorded on March 9, 2017 

President Trump calls it “the civil rights issue of our time,” offering low-income families their choice of  better schools. Checker Finn, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and chair of Hoover’s Task Force on K-12 Education, assesses the state of vouchers, charter schools, and the Trump administration’s willingness to take on an establishment “blob” that’s dead set against reform.

Cast

Chester E. Finn Jr.

Chester E. Finn Jr.

Bill Whalen

Bill Whalen

Related

Articles

Empty Desks: Schools And Staffing After The Pandemic

Sustained enrollment losses and other post-pandemic factors have placed budgetary pressures on many school districts and motivated difficult discussions about both closing under enrolled schools and staffing reductions. Using the most currently available national data, this brief provides descriptive evidence on trends in the number of operating schools and their teacher staffing and discusses their policy implications. 

November 11, 2026

Articles

The AP Quandary And How To Resolve It

It’s hard to feel sorry for the College Board, so let’s not. But let’s also try to understand an enormous dilemma that this enormous organization faces.

November 5, 2026

Podcasts

Federal K–12 Scholarships Will Soon Be Available To American Families

Jim Blew, advisor to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coaltion, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit law, scheduled to go into effect in January 2027.

October 20, 2026