Jen Jennings
@jenjennings.bsky.social
All things K-12 education policy. Professor @PrincetonSPIA & Sociology; Director, Education Research Section.
Pinned
I’m excited to share that
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
Watching the response to the NHJ article, I’m struck by how, when an unequal system becomes a problem for each family to manage, we focus on how they navigated it, scoring the private choice instead of demanding that the public system remedy the inequality.
I’ve seen the criticism of NHJ, but had she sent her child to a largely white school right off the bat, she’d have been called a hypocrite who didn’t live her public values.
There was no winning here, and that sucks. We have to do better for everyone’s children, no matter where they live.
There was no winning here, and that sucks. We have to do better for everyone’s children, no matter where they live.
In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.
www.nytimes.com
September 21, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Watching the response to the NHJ article, I’m struck by how, when an unequal system becomes a problem for each family to manage, we focus on how they navigated it, scoring the private choice instead of demanding that the public system remedy the inequality.
Fake news. Your 20-year-old faculty photo has tenure.
Also, seriously, give some thought to your department picture. It's literally the way you present yourself to current and potential students. Tons of different ways to do it, but the slapdash way that most faculty just put up a random picture and leave it there for 20 years is crazy to me.
September 19, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Fake news. Your 20-year-old faculty photo has tenure.
Reposted by Jen Jennings
Also, seriously, give some thought to your department picture. It's literally the way you present yourself to current and potential students. Tons of different ways to do it, but the slapdash way that most faculty just put up a random picture and leave it there for 20 years is crazy to me.
September 18, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Also, seriously, give some thought to your department picture. It's literally the way you present yourself to current and potential students. Tons of different ways to do it, but the slapdash way that most faculty just put up a random picture and leave it there for 20 years is crazy to me.
educational freedom: a safety net with the courage to hang above the people who need it
For the first time, more school vouchers went to Indiana families making more than $100,000 than less than $100,000.
Indiana school vouchers: More high-income families are using them as program growth slows
For the first time, more school vouchers went to Indiana families making more than $100,000 than less than $100,000.
bit.ly
September 17, 2026 at 6:27 PM
educational freedom: a safety net with the courage to hang above the people who need it
I’m excited to share that
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
September 17, 2026 at 11:36 AM
I’m excited to share that
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
The Scarcity Loop: How School Choice Reshapes the Rationing of Public Education is officially out in the world. It seemed important to find a slice.
Reposted by Jen Jennings
While watching losers lose for doing loser shit, let’s not forget the fact that the AZ Dept of Ed is going to pay these legal fees with money that ought to have gone to, you know, educating students.
September 16, 2026 at 10:50 PM
While watching losers lose for doing loser shit, let’s not forget the fact that the AZ Dept of Ed is going to pay these legal fees with money that ought to have gone to, you know, educating students.
Hoarding public records doesn’t pay.
Arizona Department of Education ordered to pay legal fees in ESA spending records lawsuit
After an extended fight over disclosing the records, the state has been ordered to cover attorney fees.
thebeam.org
September 16, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Hoarding public records doesn’t pay.
Brilliant, must-read @kevincarey1.bsky.social: “We need more than just a Department of Education. We need a Department of Children and Learning.”
A Department of Education—And Then Some
American children are in trouble. After generations of improvement, test scores are declining and fewer children are showing up to class. COVID-19 knocked school systems off-kilter, disrupting the ste...
democracyjournal.org
September 16, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Brilliant, must-read @kevincarey1.bsky.social: “We need more than just a Department of Education. We need a Department of Children and Learning.”
Reposted by Jen Jennings
Four days into school and it already happened: a student sneaking in before the day started with a friend in another class to show them one of their writings on the wall.
Day 5, here we go!
Day 5, here we go!
September 15, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Four days into school and it already happened: a student sneaking in before the day started with a friend in another class to show them one of their writings on the wall.
Day 5, here we go!
Day 5, here we go!
how swiftly that comply or lose your benefits energy evaporates when the benefit is a school voucher
“The dept did not explain how some students who failed to submit usable test scores in 2024-25 were cleared to continue receiving vouchers in the program’s expanded second year.”
“The dept did not explain how some students who failed to submit usable test scores in 2024-25 were cleared to continue receiving vouchers in the program’s expanded second year.”
It’s Year 3 of SC’s growing school voucher program. Data on student learning still is not available.
Hundreds of test scores required under SC’s school voucher program are missing from 2024-25, preventing the state from completing a long-anticipated check on learning gains in the now $83M program.
www.postandcourier.com
September 15, 2026 at 11:15 AM
how swiftly that comply or lose your benefits energy evaporates when the benefit is a school voucher
“The dept did not explain how some students who failed to submit usable test scores in 2024-25 were cleared to continue receiving vouchers in the program’s expanded second year.”
“The dept did not explain how some students who failed to submit usable test scores in 2024-25 were cleared to continue receiving vouchers in the program’s expanded second year.”
“We want to see as many students in Christian education as possible,” Chambers said. “We think it’s a much better product, because it has eternity related to it.”
And who am I to argue with eternity?
And who am I to argue with eternity?
Christian Schools Benefit From Growing School Choice Programs - MinistryWatch
Government-funded school choice programs are bringing new students and millions of dollars to Christian schools. But some Christian educators warn that accepting government money could eventually come...
ministrywatch.com
September 15, 2026 at 11:05 AM
“We want to see as many students in Christian education as possible,” Chambers said. “We think it’s a much better product, because it has eternity related to it.”
And who am I to argue with eternity?
And who am I to argue with eternity?
“The meeting with staff members of Cincinnati Christian Schools began with a prayer. Then they told Mike Grimmer and Linda Kelly that their granddaughter could no longer attend the private school.”
Federal protections for students in special education don’t apply to private schools, but parents aren’t always informed.
Parents of students with disabilities find private school vouchers come with a catch
CINCINNATI — The meeting with staff members of Cincinnati Christian Schools began with a prayer. Then they told Mike Grimmer and Linda Kelly that their granddaughter could no longer attend the private school. Annabelle Kelly had enrolled there three months earlier, in August 2025, in a program specifically for students who struggle in mainstream classrooms. Annabelle, 15, has Rett syndrome, a genetic condition accompanied by significant cognitive and developmental delays. Her grandparents, who took legal custody of Annabelle when she was 5, believed that the small, faith-based setting of CCS would be a better fit than the local public school.
hechingerreport.org
September 15, 2026 at 10:54 AM
“The meeting with staff members of Cincinnati Christian Schools began with a prayer. Then they told Mike Grimmer and Linda Kelly that their granddaughter could no longer attend the private school.”
Public education is now a tapas menu.
“The district’s program allows students to build their own schedule so that they can stack classes around a sch’s lunch period, giving them the opportunity to socialize & build friendships the same way FT students do…HS classes cost $600/class per semester.”
“The district’s program allows students to build their own schedule so that they can stack classes around a sch’s lunch period, giving them the opportunity to socialize & build friendships the same way FT students do…HS classes cost $600/class per semester.”
Declining enrollment pushes school districts to court voucher families
Arizona school districts are opening their doors to school voucher families looking for the social benefits of a traditional public school.
www.azcentral.com
September 13, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Public education is now a tapas menu.
“The district’s program allows students to build their own schedule so that they can stack classes around a sch’s lunch period, giving them the opportunity to socialize & build friendships the same way FT students do…HS classes cost $600/class per semester.”
“The district’s program allows students to build their own schedule so that they can stack classes around a sch’s lunch period, giving them the opportunity to socialize & build friendships the same way FT students do…HS classes cost $600/class per semester.”
1 in 4 students with disabilities who were awarded a voucher in Texas ultimately returned them: "Many were told their child’s needs couldn’t be accommodated. Others realized the prospective school was too far or too expensive. And there were those left waiting for replies that never came."
Why thousands of Texas students with disabilities returned school vouchers
Politicians promised vouchers would give students with special needs options. Some families were turned away, couldn’t make the commute, or never heard back from prospective private schools.
www.dallasnews.com
September 12, 2026 at 2:03 PM
1 in 4 students with disabilities who were awarded a voucher in Texas ultimately returned them: "Many were told their child’s needs couldn’t be accommodated. Others realized the prospective school was too far or too expensive. And there were those left waiting for replies that never came."
Social stratification book subtitle contest:
Would it hurt to acknowledge that some of us started closer to the road?
Would it hurt to acknowledge that some of us started closer to the road?
To be honest I was hoping for a dressed kitten on the cover but I'll take it @mivich.bsky.social
September 11, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Social stratification book subtitle contest:
Would it hurt to acknowledge that some of us started closer to the road?
Would it hurt to acknowledge that some of us started closer to the road?
Exceptional journalism that links the macro story - voucher advocates explicitly labeling early disability scholarship programs as a "toehold strategy" - to the current micro-experiences of families of kids with disabilities, who find that no private schools will serve them.
Vouchers Promise Students With Disabilities a Path to Private School. Parents Say That’s Not the Reality.
To give voucher programs a toehold in state legislatures, politicians touted how students with disabilities would gain access to private education. But those students’ families often have the hardest ...
www.propublica.org
September 11, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Exceptional journalism that links the macro story - voucher advocates explicitly labeling early disability scholarship programs as a "toehold strategy" - to the current micro-experiences of families of kids with disabilities, who find that no private schools will serve them.
"Meritocracy, this approach highlights, shapes stratification not only by sorting individuals into unequal social positions, but also by creating merit orders that have stratifying effects of their own.” -Fabien Accominotti and Michael Sauder in the Annual Review of Sociology.
The Making of Meritocratic Status Orders
This article surveys a growing body of work examining the concrete consequences of implementing meritocracy in social life. To date, this work remains compartmentalized into the separate subfields of ...
doi.org
September 11, 2026 at 11:20 AM
This piece insightfully unpacks the schism between DeVos' American Federation of Children and what @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social coins "school choice extremists," which, to my eye, are being QBed by orgs like Heritage, Ed Choice, Americans for Prosperity, & Goldwater.
I wrote about the looming crack up in the school voucher coalition. TLDR voters want to see vouchers much more tightly regulated - something Dems and at least one influential school choice org are finally picking up on educationwars.substack.com/p/the-vouche...
The Voucher Crack-Up is Coming
The politics of ‘education freedom’ are unsustainable
educationwars.substack.com
September 10, 2026 at 4:45 PM
This piece insightfully unpacks the schism between DeVos' American Federation of Children and what @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social coins "school choice extremists," which, to my eye, are being QBed by orgs like Heritage, Ed Choice, Americans for Prosperity, & Goldwater.
Reposted by Jen Jennings
I’m starting a new substack.
My focus will be, as always, on K12 education, but I'll also explore how the education system interacts with our economic system and our earth system.
Please help me spread the word. It will always be free.
matthewakraft.substack.com/p/introducin...
My focus will be, as always, on K12 education, but I'll also explore how the education system interacts with our economic system and our earth system.
Please help me spread the word. It will always be free.
matthewakraft.substack.com/p/introducin...
September 10, 2026 at 2:55 PM
I’m starting a new substack.
My focus will be, as always, on K12 education, but I'll also explore how the education system interacts with our economic system and our earth system.
Please help me spread the word. It will always be free.
matthewakraft.substack.com/p/introducin...
My focus will be, as always, on K12 education, but I'll also explore how the education system interacts with our economic system and our earth system.
Please help me spread the word. It will always be free.
matthewakraft.substack.com/p/introducin...
Voucher-accepting TN school pushes out 8-year-old because of his hair. What Friedman forgot to mention is that the invisible hand for school choice is holding hair clippers.
Tennessee private school tells 8-year-old to cut his shoulder-length hair
“What makes all of this particularly difficult to understand is that my son does not have a history of behavioral or academic problem.”
www.newsnationnow.com
September 10, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Voucher-accepting TN school pushes out 8-year-old because of his hair. What Friedman forgot to mention is that the invisible hand for school choice is holding hair clippers.
Texas has spent 4 decades litigating whether its public school finance system is adequate & efficient, but now, the comptroller wants to double voucher $: 1B to 2B
Encouraging to see TX overcome its longstanding anxiety about whether "just throwing money at a problem" produces educational outcomes
Encouraging to see TX overcome its longstanding anxiety about whether "just throwing money at a problem" produces educational outcomes
Comptroller Requests Double the Funding for School Choice in Next Budget
The comptroller is asking the Legislature to increase education savings account funding from $1 billion to more than $2 billion to meet student demand.
texasscorecard.com
September 10, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Texas has spent 4 decades litigating whether its public school finance system is adequate & efficient, but now, the comptroller wants to double voucher $: 1B to 2B
Encouraging to see TX overcome its longstanding anxiety about whether "just throwing money at a problem" produces educational outcomes
Encouraging to see TX overcome its longstanding anxiety about whether "just throwing money at a problem" produces educational outcomes
Children with medical disabilities deserve basic dignity and support at school. But private schools receiving public dollars can deny this 7 year old accommodations & push him out.
We are publicly funding schools without requiring them to accept the public obligations that come with the money.
We are publicly funding schools without requiring them to accept the public obligations that come with the money.
Iowa mom says private school discriminated against her child
Excerpt: Maria Paredes says a Des Moines private school kicked her young son out over his disability.
iowastartingline.com
September 9, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Children with medical disabilities deserve basic dignity and support at school. But private schools receiving public dollars can deny this 7 year old accommodations & push him out.
We are publicly funding schools without requiring them to accept the public obligations that come with the money.
We are publicly funding schools without requiring them to accept the public obligations that come with the money.
I asked for an academic website template and it made me a Bond villain
September 9, 2026 at 1:00 PM
I asked for an academic website template and it made me a Bond villain