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Escalating college costs affect who can go to which school, career opportunities, the kinds of courses that are offered, and the degree of innovation that faculty and administrators may employ. Some resources we think you'll find helpful on this issue: our new study on ways to engage faculty in reforming colleges from the inside out; our work in boosting community college graduation rates; our surveys on stumbling blocks to graduation and changes that might help; comments from our president, Ruth Wooden, on the importance of good advice for high school students; and Squeeze Play 2010, the latest in our series of public opinion surveys on college costs.
Back To School, K-12: Problems And Solutions, New And Old
As teachers, parents and students move through the Race to the Top and cutbacks caused by the shaky economy, there's a lot of debate on how to move forward. Those on the front lines for reform will find some takeaways from our series of reports on teachers and their views on various proposals. Also very much on point for Back to School: our school reform Choicework discussion guides; Are We Beginning To See The Light?, our public opinion survey on math and science education; and our survey on Bullying. Discussion is important in education reform: we hope to see your comments here on this site, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
THE BUCK STOPS WHERE? D.C. INFLUENCERS TALK ABOUT THE NATIONAL DEBT
"Movers and shakers" in and around Washington, D.C., are worried about the national debt, according to our survey, The Buck Stops Where?, done for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of Our Fiscal Future. At least 85 percent of the policymakers and "opinion elites" we surveyed said "if we do not get the national debt under control, it will overwhelm the federal budget and damage the economy in the long run." Roughly 8 in 10 said there are practical policy approaches to the problem; but about the same number said partisan politics will make pragmatic solutions impossible to achieve. Click here to see the report.
THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE: VOICES & VIEWS TO CONSIDER
With immigration reform back in the spotlight and debate about different approaches to reform, it's worth noting that to craft a policy that works, it helps to hear the voices of the immigrants themselves. In our survey, A Place to Call Home: What Immigrants Say Now About Life In America, immigrants talk about why they're here, the challenges they face, and their views on reform proposals and reasons to become citizens. Majorities told us they adapted quickly to life in the U.S. and made the right choice in coming here. Click here to see our report, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
ABORTIONMore than a generation after the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the U.S., public debate on the subject continues to follow the well-worn path between condemnation and choice. Public attitudes do not.
Where advocates on both sides tend to lay out their arguments in terms of absolute moral rights and wrongs, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions. Solid majorities support a woman's right to choose abortion - if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy.
On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. In some respects, changing technology - such as the "abortion pill" and ultrasound-guided abortions available as early as eight days after conception – have made abortion both easier and more accepted. In other respects, new technology – such as ultrasound photos from the womb and developments making a fetus viable at earlier stages of pregnancy – has sparked new questions.
