Education Week January 21, 2025
Rachel Perera explained that executive orders taking aim at federal workers could spur concern, prompting many of the Education Department’s 4,000 staffers to leave, weakening expertise...
Rachel M. Perera is a fellow in the Governance Studies program for the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings. Her research examines how racial and socioeconomic inequalities develop in K-12 education and the consequences of policies designed to reduce educational inequality. Her current work focuses on civil rights and education, school discipline, and COVID-19 recovery. She also studies the politics of education policymaking, examining issues related to private school choice and charter schools as well as school boards.
She earned her Ph.D. in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, where she was a National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow. Perera also holds an M.P.A. from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and a B.A. in history and political science from Hofstra University. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Perera spent five years with Teach For America, most recently serving as director of research partnerships.
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Past Positions
- Director of Research Partnerships, Teach For America
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Education
- Ph.D., Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School
- M. Phil., Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School
- M.P.A., Public Policy Analysis, New York University
- B.A., Political Science and History, Hofstra University
Media Coverage
Education Week December 13, 2024
Rachel Perera spoke to Education Week about the ways Trump can weaken the Department of Education.
Wall Street Journal November 11, 2024
On issues that I worry about…[using civil-rights laws to target diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at universities] is at the top.
Spectrum News September 14, 2024
A second Trump administration could not simply dismantle the Department of Education with the authority of the executive alone. They would need Congress to act. It’s a policy proposal..."
Chalkbeat June 24, 2024
“Opponents of suspension bans often claim that these reforms will lead to increases in misbehavior and disruption—a claim that hasn’t borne out in the data.”
News Nation June 6, 2024
“Students struggled coming back to schools and they missed a lot of key in-person time where they learned socializing aspects of school, how to be in school, how to sit still in seats,..."
The Hill March 9, 2024
“This is not the type of incident that is typically the inciting incident of a Department of Ed investigation like this…”
The Guardian October 14, 2023
“California’s decision to ban defiance suspensions is an acknowledgement that the criteria for these kinds of suspensions is overly broad.”
Education Week September 28, 2023
“In these political debates happening in state houses and at the district level, this notion that eliminating suspensions will create more disruptive schools is so prevalent…”
The Associated Press January 21, 2023
“There’s a lot of pressure on schools right now…Schools also say they don’t have the resources to address more behavioral problems, and I worry that that will translate to schools..."
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