K-12 Education

Source: Fordham Institute

Date: 2/24/26

Ohio Education By the Numbers-2026 Edition

This guidebook offers policymakers, journalists, and civic and business leaders easy-to-use statistics-sans commentary-about Ohio's K-12 schools and the students they serve. This edition includes the most recent data available through December 2025, which is primarily data from the 2024-25 school year.

 

The following tables and charts describe education in Ohio at a high level-they are not an evaluation of state policies or school practices. Nevertheless, a basic understanding of trends, as well as the current status of K-12 education, can help us make more informed decisions about ways to improve education for Ohio students. Whether you're a lawmaker, reporter, community or business leader, or a parent or grandparent, this booklet is designed for you. As a readily accessible resource, we hope you'll find it to be a go-to guide as you discuss education in your community.

School Choice

Source: Manhattan Institute

Date: 2/26/26

Selective Success: A Comparative Analysis of Chicago's Selective Enrollment and Public High Schools

For years, progressive politicians in cities across the U.S. have tried to shut down selective enrollment high schools, which use standardized tests and grades to determine student admissions. These institutions offer academically gifted, public school students a rigorous education and other opportunities typically available only in private schools. They are, in this way, a great equalizer in American secondary education, providing talented high schoolers of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds with the tools to succeed.

 

Progressives and their teachers' union allies, however, oppose selective enrollment high schools. They claim that these schools contain few, if any, so-called underrepresented minorities, take resources away from traditional district schools, and further educational inequities between white and Asian American students, on the one hand, and black and Hispanic students, on the other. In this issue brief, I evaluate the validity of these claims and others in the context of Chicago's selective enrollment high schools.

Teacher Employment and Retention

Source: Brookings Institution

Date: 2/23/26

The STEM teacher workforce in high-need settings: Evidence on trends, challenges, and the role of the Noyce program

Increasing student performance in math, science, and other STEM subjects is an urgent-but often overshadowed-objective for policymakers, often tied to economic growth, international competitiveness, and national security. An effective and robust STEM teacher workforce is critical in providing students access to a strong STEM education. Yet the STEM teacher workforce is facing strong headwinds as the pipeline of new teachers has been struggling to meet demand. Staffing pressures for STEM teachers have been increasing on multiple fronts over time: dwindling cohorts of graduates from teacher training programs, more classes to cover due to increased STEM requirements in the high school curriculum, and growing compensation for STEM degrees outside of the classroom luring teachers away. This combination of factors is believed to contribute to the staffing problems often observed among STEM teachers, including excessive turnover and low levels of teacher qualifications. Reports of teacher shortages are, often, primarily dominated by STEM teacher shortages, as this specialty (along with special education) accounts for the lion's share of hard-to-staff vacancies nationwide. These ongoing challenges make a focus on the STEM teacher workforce particularly worthy of policy attention.

Review of NEPC Review: Estimating the LongRun Impact of a Universal ESA Program in Mississippi

Source: EdChoice

Reviewed by: David S. Knight, University of Washington

A recent report from EdChoice estimates the long-term economic returns of a universal education savings account (ESA) policy in Mississippi. ESA policies provide taxpayer dollars to households that decline to send their children to public schools, allowing those funds to be used for private school tuition or other educational expenses. As ESAs and similar school choice programs expand rapidly across the country, rigorous research is essential to inform sound, evidence-based policymaking.

Although the EdChoice report attempts to measure the long-term economic benefits of a universal ESA, it contains significant methodological errors, questionable assumptions, and misleading conclusions. University of Washington professor David S. Knight reviewed Estimating the Long-Run Impact of a Universal ESA Program in Mississippi and found it offers limited value for informing sound public policy.

Rights to unionize and collectively bargain

By: Jennifer Sherer, EPI

"In the past year, the Trump administration has stripped collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers and undermined the National Labor Relations Board's ability to enforce labor law. EPI's latest policy brief in the "Holding the Line" series outlines what state policymakers can do at this moment to protect and expand workers' rights to unionize and collectively bargain."

NEPC Resources on Immigration

By: National Education Policy Center

This website lists the research resources from the National Education Policy Center regarding immigration. Included is a recent letter from National Academy of Education (NAEd) President and NEPC Fellow Alfredo J. Artiles to the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE that drew upon research evidence to make the urgent case for ceasing federal immigration enforcement actions in and around schools.

The Racist Beginnings of School Vouchers

By: Brenda Alvarez, neaToday

"School vouchers were first deployed in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education as a way to preserve racial separation after courts ordered public schools to integrate."

S.A.F.E. by Design: Policy, Research, and Practice Recommendations for AI Companions in Education

By: SAFE AI Companions Task Force

"Convened by the EDSAFE AI Alliance, the SAFE AI Companions Task Force is a global workgroup of educators, technologists, policymakers, researchers, industry experts, and youth and civil rights advocates committed to promoting safe and effective use of AI companions in education, anchored in our SAFE Framework. Over the last four months, the task force has explored the use and impact of AI tools that present as friends, homework helpers, partners, or confidantes, by remembering prior interactions, engaging in ongoing, personal conversations, and encouraging repeated engagement that can lead to unhealthy attachment. Together we grappled with a rapidly eroding boundary between general-purpose technology and specialized purpose-built EdTech"

GreatLakesCenter.org