Brown Center Chalkboard

The Brown Center Chalkboard is where Brookings scholars and guest authors bring evidence to bear on the pressing issues in U.S. education policy, politics, and practice.

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cartoon illustration of a young man leaning against a calculator (approximately 10 feet tall) (the calculator, not the young man) wearing a graduation cap (the calculator, not the young man), holding a pencil approximately 8 feet long (the young man, not the calculator)

Higher Education What college affordability debates get wrong on the returns to college

Dick Startz

December 16, 2025

Delores Leonard (center) walks her daughters to school before heading to work at a McDonald's in Chicago, Illinois, on Sept. 25, 2014. Leonard, a single mother, has been working at McDonald's for seven years and has never made more than minimum wage.

Education Access & Equity Tacos and tuition: A look at new college benefits for the low-wage workforce

Federick J. Ngo

December 11, 2025

An elementary school teacher giving a high-five to her student

Education A more expansive approach to studying what works in education

James Soland

December 8, 2025

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, joined on stage by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, addresses the media during a press conference on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upholding Tennessee's ban on gender transition treatments for transgender minors at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

Courts & Law What the Skrmetti decision means for transgender students and the future of education research

Raquel Muñiz , Andrés Castro Samayoa, Shane Dunn

December 1, 2025

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