CAP’s Education Department aims to change America’s approach to early childhood, K-12 education, higher education, and lifelong learning by ensuring equitable access to resources, developing community-centered policies, and promoting the ability to participate fully in an inclusive economy built on a strong democracy.
Students walk to their classrooms at a public middle school in Los Angeles, California, September 10, 2021. (Getty/Robyn Beck/AFP)
CAP has identified a series of proposals, including a grant program that would increase recruitment and retention of highly qualified educators in schools with the highest teacher turnover, helping ensure equitable access to great teaching in school districts across the country.
Provide access to quality, affordable child care
CAP has helped shape key child care and preschool policy proposals, many of which are included in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda, and furthered the understanding of child care research, including cost of care, child care deserts, family spending, and workforce participation.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened a national shortage of registered nurses, making it increasingly urgent that policymakers invest in higher education, coordinate strategies to alleviate the pressures on the nursing workforce, and make the entire health care system more equitable and stable.
Prioritizing Racial Equity in Student Mental Health Spending
States and school districts have rightly prioritized student mental health as they start to spend pandemic recovery dollars, but they must do more to ensure that funding also promotes racial equity.
How Colleges and Universities Can Bring Pell Grant-Funded Programs Back to Prisons
A new process from the U.S. Department of Education outlines how higher education institutions can receive approval to offer Pell Grant-funded programs to incarcerated students.
The American Rescue Plan Shored Up Child Care, But a Long-Term Solution Is Necessary
The American Rescue Plan provided much-needed funding to protect the child care sector from collapse, but long-term investments are critical to achieve lasting infrastructural change.
Major child care investments pay for themselves through a range of benefits, including improved child and family health, bolstered educational outcomes, and economic recovery.
Holding Higher Education Accountable in Federal-State Partnerships
Colorado’s experiment with performance contracts in the College Opportunity Fund offers insights into how performance contracts could be used for accountability in federal-state partnership proposals for higher education.
Education Policies Need To Address the Unique Needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities
The Center for American Progress is conducting new research that uplifts the lived experiences in public education of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. This research will advance CAP’s ongoing work to apply an explicit racial equity lens to K-12 education policymaking.
Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of Charter Management Contracts for Public Schools
A review of the common failures of contracts between management companies and the charter schools they oversee suggests some changes could help protect both students and taxpayer money.
