Michael Dannenberg
@mdannenberg1.bsky.social
Deputy Commissioner for Policy, MA Dept of Higher Ed; former aide Sec. Arne Duncan (Obama Admin), Sen. Kennedy (D-MA), & Sen. Pell (D-RI). Posts my own.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was an accountability hawk with K-12 public schools. Now he’s embracing an accountability-free voucher scheme for K-12 private schools. What a surprise
@rweingarten.bsky.social @neatoday.bsky.social @arneduncan.bsky.social
www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/new...
@rweingarten.bsky.social @neatoday.bsky.social @arneduncan.bsky.social
www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/new...
Governor Glenn Youngkin Announces Virginia is First State to Opt In Formally to the Education Freedom Tax Credit to Expand School Choice in Virginia
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today that Virginia was the first state in the nation to opt in to the Education Freedom Tax Credit, also known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC), a new fe...
www.governor.virginia.gov
January 10, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was an accountability hawk with K-12 public schools. Now he’s embracing an accountability-free voucher scheme for K-12 private schools. What a surprise
@rweingarten.bsky.social @neatoday.bsky.social @arneduncan.bsky.social
www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/new...
@rweingarten.bsky.social @neatoday.bsky.social @arneduncan.bsky.social
www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/new...
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
"The College Backlash Is a Mirage"
Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the value of a degree—but enrollment keeps going up.
By @rosehorowitch.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the value of a degree—but enrollment keeps going up.
By @rosehorowitch.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The College Backlash Is a Mirage
Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the value of a degree—but enrollment keeps going up.
www.theatlantic.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:26 PM
"The College Backlash Is a Mirage"
Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the value of a degree—but enrollment keeps going up.
By @rosehorowitch.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the value of a degree—but enrollment keeps going up.
By @rosehorowitch.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
2/2
While I'm at it, how about profiles of 700,000+ people in DC—more than total pop of VT or WY—who have been long-term gerrymandered out of any Congressional voice at all. While on average paying more *federal* tax, per capita, than people in any "real" state.
Do it in barber shop, vs diner.
While I'm at it, how about profiles of 700,000+ people in DC—more than total pop of VT or WY—who have been long-term gerrymandered out of any Congressional voice at all. While on average paying more *federal* tax, per capita, than people in any "real" state.
Do it in barber shop, vs diner.
December 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
2/2
While I'm at it, how about profiles of 700,000+ people in DC—more than total pop of VT or WY—who have been long-term gerrymandered out of any Congressional voice at all. While on average paying more *federal* tax, per capita, than people in any "real" state.
Do it in barber shop, vs diner.
While I'm at it, how about profiles of 700,000+ people in DC—more than total pop of VT or WY—who have been long-term gerrymandered out of any Congressional voice at all. While on average paying more *federal* tax, per capita, than people in any "real" state.
Do it in barber shop, vs diner.
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
In our research on socioeconomic background in academia, we ran a survey. Over 2,000 faculty members responded (thanks if you were one!)
Social & cultural capital showed up time and again as key issues.
A few findings you might be interested in...🧵
Social & cultural capital showed up time and again as key issues.
A few findings you might be interested in...🧵
❓ What do people’s own words reveal about their economic decisions?
A new JEL article by Ingar Haaland, Christopher Roth, Stefanie Stantcheva and Johannes Wohlfart shows how open-ended survey responses offer insights that standard surveys often miss.
🔎Read more here: www.nhh.no/en/research-...
A new JEL article by Ingar Haaland, Christopher Roth, Stefanie Stantcheva and Johannes Wohlfart shows how open-ended survey responses offer insights that standard surveys often miss.
🔎Read more here: www.nhh.no/en/research-...
December 9, 2025 at 4:36 PM
In our research on socioeconomic background in academia, we ran a survey. Over 2,000 faculty members responded (thanks if you were one!)
Social & cultural capital showed up time and again as key issues.
A few findings you might be interested in...🧵
Social & cultural capital showed up time and again as key issues.
A few findings you might be interested in...🧵
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
This weekend has been a year long 😥
December 15, 2025 at 5:54 AM
This weekend has been a year long 😥
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
Been there
In the policy world, plagiarism is the highest form of flattery
you’re having an impact!
In the policy world, plagiarism is the highest form of flattery
you’re having an impact!
December 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Been there
In the policy world, plagiarism is the highest form of flattery
you’re having an impact!
In the policy world, plagiarism is the highest form of flattery
you’re having an impact!
Yes, get rid of early decision and the legacy preference. But the truly progressive position on admissions is to change the financial incentives for colleges. Reward Pell Grant and middle income student enrollment. @jfallows.bsky.social @bobshireman.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/o...
Opinion | The Early Decision Option Is a Racket. Shut It Down.
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Yes, get rid of early decision and the legacy preference. But the truly progressive position on admissions is to change the financial incentives for colleges. Reward Pell Grant and middle income student enrollment. @jfallows.bsky.social @bobshireman.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/o...
Most stories on the percentage of adults who think college is not worth it fail to note most also overestimate the cost, underestimate how much financial aid they’re entitled to receive, & don’t have a firm grasp of the earnings premium associated w/ degree attainment. www.strada.org/reports/cost...
November 30, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Most stories on the percentage of adults who think college is not worth it fail to note most also overestimate the cost, underestimate how much financial aid they’re entitled to receive, & don’t have a firm grasp of the earnings premium associated w/ degree attainment. www.strada.org/reports/cost...
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
Making FAFSA mandatory: an evaluation of Louisiana's financial aid submission policy on college enrollment and pell grant awards www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
"I find positive, significant impacts on the enrollment rate for Black students at large, public four-year universities"
"I find positive, significant impacts on the enrollment rate for Black students at large, public four-year universities"
Making FAFSA mandatory: an evaluation of Louisiana's financial aid submission policy on college enrollment and pell grant awards
Aiming to reduce inequalities between low- and high-income students enrolling in college, Louisiana enacted legislation requiring high school students to file a FAFSA application, or opt-out, prior...
www.tandfonline.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Making FAFSA mandatory: an evaluation of Louisiana's financial aid submission policy on college enrollment and pell grant awards www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
"I find positive, significant impacts on the enrollment rate for Black students at large, public four-year universities"
"I find positive, significant impacts on the enrollment rate for Black students at large, public four-year universities"
In addition to the cost side of the affordability issue, there’s the ability to pay side and individuals have a lot more control over that @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social
Latest rpt backing “the more you learn, the more you earn” is out of MA. $20K-$30K value-add for degree holders www.mass.edu/earnings
Latest rpt backing “the more you learn, the more you earn” is out of MA. $20K-$30K value-add for degree holders www.mass.edu/earnings
Latest Fall Enrollment & Student Success Report / Data Center / Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Official website of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
www.mass.edu
November 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
In addition to the cost side of the affordability issue, there’s the ability to pay side and individuals have a lot more control over that @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social
Latest rpt backing “the more you learn, the more you earn” is out of MA. $20K-$30K value-add for degree holders www.mass.edu/earnings
Latest rpt backing “the more you learn, the more you earn” is out of MA. $20K-$30K value-add for degree holders www.mass.edu/earnings
Hungary’s right-wing leader, Victor Orban, slashed university funding for independent research, cut support for content areas he doesn't like, and installed allies in key college roles.
JD Vance called him a "model."
Higher ed: You're in a war. It won't end with a handshake. @democracyforward.org
JD Vance called him a "model."
Higher ed: You're in a war. It won't end with a handshake. @democracyforward.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Hungary’s right-wing leader, Victor Orban, slashed university funding for independent research, cut support for content areas he doesn't like, and installed allies in key college roles.
JD Vance called him a "model."
Higher ed: You're in a war. It won't end with a handshake. @democracyforward.org
JD Vance called him a "model."
Higher ed: You're in a war. It won't end with a handshake. @democracyforward.org
BGlobe op-ed proposes colleges agree to cap and reduce early decision admissions. To really make that proposal work, the federal gov’t would have to suspend antitrust law enforcement for that purpose. It can and should. @jfallows.bsky.social @booker.senate.gov
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/o...
Why top colleges should cut back on early decision admissions - The Boston Globe
Colleges have increasingly relied upon early decision to secure ever-larger portions of their entering classes. But the early decision edge goes largely to students who already have a big leg up on th...
www.bostonglobe.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
BGlobe op-ed proposes colleges agree to cap and reduce early decision admissions. To really make that proposal work, the federal gov’t would have to suspend antitrust law enforcement for that purpose. It can and should. @jfallows.bsky.social @booker.senate.gov
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/o...
My vision. Every college degree program comes embedded with a work-based learning experience (a paid internship for those with need), & every student graduates with a skill-based certification upon degree completion. Work matters. Skills matter.
@ginaraimondo.bsky.social
@petebuttigieg.bsky.social
@ginaraimondo.bsky.social
@petebuttigieg.bsky.social
e.ga
October 31, 2025 at 1:35 PM
My vision. Every college degree program comes embedded with a work-based learning experience (a paid internship for those with need), & every student graduates with a skill-based certification upon degree completion. Work matters. Skills matter.
@ginaraimondo.bsky.social
@petebuttigieg.bsky.social
@ginaraimondo.bsky.social
@petebuttigieg.bsky.social
A 2028 hopeful should go big on work study, strengthen it, & better tie it to academic programs. The Trump admin has proposed an 82% cut to work study even though students who complete a paid internship are half as likely to be underemployed post-graduation. Help them & show Ds value work. #Clinton
October 19, 2025 at 1:52 PM
A 2028 hopeful should go big on work study, strengthen it, & better tie it to academic programs. The Trump admin has proposed an 82% cut to work study even though students who complete a paid internship are half as likely to be underemployed post-graduation. Help them & show Ds value work. #Clinton
Seems to me any college has good grounds to sue and seek an injunction stopping implementation of the Trump administration’s “compact” with higher ed. It runs directly counter to 20 USC 1232’s prohibition on direct or indirect federal control of academic programming. The law still matters, right?!
October 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Seems to me any college has good grounds to sue and seek an injunction stopping implementation of the Trump administration’s “compact” with higher ed. It runs directly counter to 20 USC 1232’s prohibition on direct or indirect federal control of academic programming. The law still matters, right?!
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
Doesn't have to be the @barackobama.bsky.social + @arneduncan.bsky.social one (though I think it has many elements worth reanimating), but we've gotta offer something that's about using public institutions to change policies to make schools fairer and better (while ALSO funding them better).
October 14, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Doesn't have to be the @barackobama.bsky.social + @arneduncan.bsky.social one (though I think it has many elements worth reanimating), but we've gotta offer something that's about using public institutions to change policies to make schools fairer and better (while ALSO funding them better).
Education “reform advocates should always want…bipartisan support…[I]t makes for a stronger & more durable coalition,” says @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social True, but sometimes that’s not enough (see NCLB). You need the upper middle class as well. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com?utm_campaign...
SCHOOLED | Michael J. Petrilli | Substack
SCHOOLED is Michael J. Petrilli’s twice-weekly newsletter restarting the ed reform conversation. Expect sharp analysis, curated commentary, and lively debates—including from YOU. This is one newslette...
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Education “reform advocates should always want…bipartisan support…[I]t makes for a stronger & more durable coalition,” says @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social True, but sometimes that’s not enough (see NCLB). You need the upper middle class as well. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com?utm_campaign...
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
It's clearer by the day that Columbia making a deal with Trump in July was a catastrophe for higher education as a whole. It gave terrible people a bottomless appetite for extortion. The other eight universities must follow MIT's lead.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
It's clearer by the day that Columbia making a deal with Trump in July was a catastrophe for higher education as a whole. It gave terrible people a bottomless appetite for extortion. The other eight universities must follow MIT's lead.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
There’s a new campaign asking alumni to urge their alma maters to reject the Trump administration’s latest shakedown of higher ed.
They should start a PAC as well. Use participatory democracy to defeat those who would destroy it. @bluehaveninit.bsky.social
alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...
They should start a PAC as well. Use participatory democracy to defeat those who would destroy it. @bluehaveninit.bsky.social
alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...
STAND WITH YOUR SCHOOL: Trump attacks 9 universities. Sign the alumni petition now.
Are you an alum from one of the 9 schools the federal government just attacked? Sign this alumni petition now to support your school, defend democracy, and build a grassroots movement for campus freed...
alumni.controlshift.app
October 9, 2025 at 12:19 PM
There’s a new campaign asking alumni to urge their alma maters to reject the Trump administration’s latest shakedown of higher ed.
They should start a PAC as well. Use participatory democracy to defeat those who would destroy it. @bluehaveninit.bsky.social
alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...
They should start a PAC as well. Use participatory democracy to defeat those who would destroy it. @bluehaveninit.bsky.social
alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...
Democrats should go in the opposite direction of Mamdani on gifted programs. There should be more, not fewer of them. And we should reward students who fast track through school.
@rahmemanuel.bsky.social
@joshshapiro.bsky.social
@all4ed.org @crpe.bsky.social
all4ed.org/wp-content/u...
@rahmemanuel.bsky.social
@joshshapiro.bsky.social
@all4ed.org @crpe.bsky.social
all4ed.org/wp-content/u...
all4ed.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Democrats should go in the opposite direction of Mamdani on gifted programs. There should be more, not fewer of them. And we should reward students who fast track through school.
@rahmemanuel.bsky.social
@joshshapiro.bsky.social
@all4ed.org @crpe.bsky.social
all4ed.org/wp-content/u...
@rahmemanuel.bsky.social
@joshshapiro.bsky.social
@all4ed.org @crpe.bsky.social
all4ed.org/wp-content/u...
My K-12 ed reform recipe list:
1) Time- Think summer learning
2) Teachers- Better trained, better paid
3) Rigor- High standards & acctly for all
4) Relevance- Curricula that resonates & matches the research; &
5) Student Motivation- Policies that facilitate success
@mattyglesias.bsky.social
1) Time- Think summer learning
2) Teachers- Better trained, better paid
3) Rigor- High standards & acctly for all
4) Relevance- Curricula that resonates & matches the research; &
5) Student Motivation- Policies that facilitate success
@mattyglesias.bsky.social
October 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
My K-12 ed reform recipe list:
1) Time- Think summer learning
2) Teachers- Better trained, better paid
3) Rigor- High standards & acctly for all
4) Relevance- Curricula that resonates & matches the research; &
5) Student Motivation- Policies that facilitate success
@mattyglesias.bsky.social
1) Time- Think summer learning
2) Teachers- Better trained, better paid
3) Rigor- High standards & acctly for all
4) Relevance- Curricula that resonates & matches the research; &
5) Student Motivation- Policies that facilitate success
@mattyglesias.bsky.social
Reading Skills Hit a New Low. The real question is why doesn't anyone care? Why doesn't the Democratic Party care? I submit it's because mainly it's the lowest achieving students who are declining. Political power rests with parents of middle & high achieving students www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/u...
Reading Skills of 12th Graders Hit a New Low
www.nytimes.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reading Skills Hit a New Low. The real question is why doesn't anyone care? Why doesn't the Democratic Party care? I submit it's because mainly it's the lowest achieving students who are declining. Political power rests with parents of middle & high achieving students www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/u...
So, which is it? Clamp down on international students and base policy on (anecdotal) stories of “forever students” OR recognize the contributions international students bring to American higher education and support our higher education trade _surplus_? apnews.com/article/chin...
Trump saying 600,000 Chinese students could come to the US draws MAGA backlash
President Donald Trump has sparked backlash from some members of his loyal base by saying his administration would allow 600,000 Chinese students into American universities.
apnews.com
August 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
So, which is it? Clamp down on international students and base policy on (anecdotal) stories of “forever students” OR recognize the contributions international students bring to American higher education and support our higher education trade _surplus_? apnews.com/article/chin...
Reposted by Michael Dannenberg
The weight given to non-academic criteria ('character', etc) and the discretionary admissions process really are odd characteristics of the US university system. Biased, privilege-protecting results plus lots of resentment is precisely what one would predict this leads to.
August 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The weight given to non-academic criteria ('character', etc) and the discretionary admissions process really are odd characteristics of the US university system. Biased, privilege-protecting results plus lots of resentment is precisely what one would predict this leads to.