A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want our elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy. But for reasons we cannot explain, the demands of this large segment of Americans have yet to resonate with most of our federal, state, or local policymakers. Instead, over the past forty years, these policy makers have completely ignored issues of racial segregation while focusing almost exclusively on high-stakes accountability, even as our schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal.

This report argues that, as our K -- 12 student population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the time is right for our political leaders to pay more attention to the evidence, intuition, and common sense that supports the importance of racially and ethnically diverse educational settings to prepare the next generation. It highlights in particular the large body of research that demonstrates the important educational benefits -- cognitive, social, and emotional -- for all students who interact with classmates from different backgrounds, cultures, and orientations to the world. This research legitimizes the intuition of millions of Americans who recognize that, as the nation becomes more racially and ethnically complex, our schools should reflect that diversity and tap into the benefits of these more diverse schools to better educate all our students for the twenty-first century.

The advocates of racially integrated schools understand that much of the recent racial tension and unrest in this nation -- from Ferguson to Baltimore to Staten Island -- may well have been avoided if more children had attended schools that taught them to address implicit biases related to racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. This report supports this argument beyond any reasonable doubt.

A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want our elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy. But for reasons we cannot explain, the demands of this large segment of Americans have yet to resonate with most of our federal, state, or local policymakers. Instead, over the past forty years, these policy makers have completely ignored issues of racial segregation while focusing almost exclusively on high-stakes accountability, even as our schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal.

This report argues that, as our K -- 12 student population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the time is right for our political leaders to pay more attention to the evidence, intuition, and common sense that supports the importance of racially and ethnically diverse educational settings to prepare the next generation. It highlights in particular the large body of research that demonstrates the important educational benefits -- cognitive, social, and emotional -- for all students who interact with classmates from different backgrounds, cultures, and orientations to the world. This research legitimizes the intuition of millions of Americans who recognize that, as the nation becomes more racially and ethnically complex, our schools should reflect that diversity and tap into the benefits of these more diverse schools to better educate all our students for the twenty-first century.

The advocates of racially integrated schools understand that much of the recent racial tension and unrest in this nation -- from Ferguson to Baltimore to Staten Island -- may well have been avoided if more children had attended schools that taught them to address implicit biases related to racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. This report supports this argument beyond any reasonable doubt.

A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want our elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy. But for reasons we cannot explain, the demands of this large segment of Americans have yet to resonate with most of our federal, state, or local policymakers. Instead, over the past forty years, these policy makers have completely ignored issues of racial segregation while focusing almost exclusively on high-stakes accountability, even as our schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal.

This report argues that, as our K -- 12 student population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the time is right for our political leaders to pay more attention to the evidence, intuition, and common sense that supports the importance of racially and ethnically diverse educational settings to prepare the next generation. It highlights in particular the large body of research that demonstrates the important educational benefits -- cognitive, social, and emotional -- for all students who interact with classmates from different backgrounds, cultures, and orientations to the world. This research legitimizes the intuition of millions of Americans who recognize that, as the nation becomes more racially and ethnically complex, our schools should reflect that diversity and tap into the benefits of these more diverse schools to better educate all our students for the twenty-first century.

The advocates of racially integrated schools understand that much of the recent racial tension and unrest in this nation -- from Ferguson to Baltimore to Staten Island -- may well have been avoided if more children had attended schools that taught them to address implicit biases related to racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. This report supports this argument beyond any reasonable doubt.

Public research universities educate about 20 percent of all students nationwide; among the nation's research universities, they award 65 percent of all master's degrees and 68 percent of all research doctorate degrees. They enroll 3.8 million students, including almost 900,000 graduate students, annually.1 Public research universities produce researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and the basic research breakthroughs that drive innovation, grow our economy, and benefit the daily lives of all Americans.2 Between 2012 and 2013 alone, research at public universities resulted in more than 13,322 patent applications, 522 start-up companies, and 3,094 intellectual property licenses.

Public research universities also support the upward social mobility of large numbers of talented and ambitious young people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, many of whom are the first in their family to pursue postsecondary education. Public research universities provide a high-quality university education at reduced cost and act as pathways to higher-paying jobs than would otherwise be obtainable for most students. The sizable enrollment of undergraduate students from low-income families reflects the mission of public research universities to serve all facets of U.S. society; 31 percent of undergraduate students who attend public research universities receive Pell Grants, and the eight research universities with the highest shares of students who receive Pell Grants are all public.

But there is growing concern about the future of these vital institutions. Over the last decade, and especially following the economic collapse of 2008, nearly every state in the nation has dramatically reduced its investment in higher education, with public research universities receiving the most severe cuts. Since 2008, public research universities have suffered a 26 percent drop in state investment.5 Further, declining federal funds for research have added to the strain, despite the slight rebound afforded by the 2016 omnibus spending measure. The current funding model is broken and getting worse, putting at risk a critical component of the nation's postsecondary education system and research infrastructure.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has created the Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education to study the importance of public research universities, analyze economic trends affecting their operation, and recommend new strategies to sustain and strengthen these critical institutions. This publication, the fourth in a series of five Lincoln Project reports, examines the many ways in which public research universities contribute to their communities, states, regions, and the nation, and provides empirical evidence of their service to the public good.

Anyone concerned about how the futures of millions of children are jeopardized because of discipline practices that unfairly exclude students from U.S. public schools will be heartened by this story about how transformative change can happen.

It's a story of how students and parents, civil rights advocates, academics, policymakers and government came together -- with help from philanthropy -- to advance reform.

The linchpin was a four-year, $47 million school discipline reform initiative that Atlantic launched in 2010 to promote policies and practices that would keep vulnerable children in school and on track to graduate and go on to college, rather than on the path to prison.

We hope this report will be useful to all who might benefit from our experience:

For funders -- to inform strategic choices going forward, to anticipate future challenges, and to consider potentially powerful responses.
For grantee and government partners -- to celebrate successes as well as to consider options for refining strategies and tactics going forward.
For students of movements that protect the vulnerable -- to understand the complex arc of advocacy as shaped by intentional strategies and tactics as well as history and on-the-ground realities.

KEY INSIGHTS

1. When philanthropy and the public sector work together, a foundation's role should be more than just paying for a government-initiated project. Philanthropic leaders can add value by helping to define a shared goal and develop a structure for ongoing dialogue and decision making.
2. Philanthropy can help create opportunities for policy change through a strategic combination of investments designed to (re)frame the problem, identify and lift up viable policy alternatives, and apply pressure for change.
3. Grassroots organizing by parents and young people can play a major role in advancing changes to local and national educational policy -- and that impact is amplified when grassroots movements receive philanthropic support.

Anyone concerned about how the futures of millions of children are jeopardized because of discipline practices that unfairly exclude students from U.S. public schools will be heartened by this story about how transformative change can happen.

It's a story of how students and parents, civil rights advocates, academics, policymakers and government came together -- with help from philanthropy -- to advance reform.

The linchpin was a four-year, $47 million school discipline reform initiative that Atlantic launched in 2010 to promote policies and practices that would keep vulnerable children in school and on track to graduate and go on to college, rather than on the path to prison.

We hope this report will be useful to all who might benefit from our experience:

For funders -- to inform strategic choices going forward, to anticipate future challenges, and to consider potentially powerful responses.
For grantee and government partners -- to celebrate successes as well as to consider options for refining strategies and tactics going forward.
For students of movements that protect the vulnerable -- to understand the complex arc of advocacy as shaped by intentional strategies and tactics as well as history and on-the-ground realities.

KEY INSIGHTS

1. When philanthropy and the public sector work together, a foundation's role should be more than just paying for a government-initiated project. Philanthropic leaders can add value by helping to define a shared goal and develop a structure for ongoing dialogue and decision making.
2. Philanthropy can help create opportunities for policy change through a strategic combination of investments designed to (re)frame the problem, identify and lift up viable policy alternatives, and apply pressure for change.
3. Grassroots organizing by parents and young people can play a major role in advancing changes to local and national educational policy -- and that impact is amplified when grassroots movements receive philanthropic support.

Anyone concerned about how the futures of millions of children are jeopardized because of discipline practices that unfairly exclude students from U.S. public schools will be heartened by this story about how transformative change can happen.

It's a story of how students and parents, civil rights advocates, academics, policymakers and government came together -- with help from philanthropy -- to advance reform.

The linchpin was a four-year, $47 million school discipline reform initiative that Atlantic launched in 2010 to promote policies and practices that would keep vulnerable children in school and on track to graduate and go on to college, rather than on the path to prison.

We hope this report will be useful to all who might benefit from our experience:

For funders -- to inform strategic choices going forward, to anticipate future challenges, and to consider potentially powerful responses.
For grantee and government partners -- to celebrate successes as well as to consider options for refining strategies and tactics going forward.
For students of movements that protect the vulnerable -- to understand the complex arc of advocacy as shaped by intentional strategies and tactics as well as history and on-the-ground realities.

KEY INSIGHTS

1. When philanthropy and the public sector work together, a foundation's role should be more than just paying for a government-initiated project. Philanthropic leaders can add value by helping to define a shared goal and develop a structure for ongoing dialogue and decision making.
2. Philanthropy can help create opportunities for policy change through a strategic combination of investments designed to (re)frame the problem, identify and lift up viable policy alternatives, and apply pressure for change.
3. Grassroots organizing by parents and young people can play a major role in advancing changes to local and national educational policy -- and that impact is amplified when grassroots movements receive philanthropic support.

2015 has proved to be another active year for charter public school legislation across the country. For starters, we saw significant activity regarding potential enabling legislation in several of the states without charter public school laws. Most notably, Alabama became the 43rd state to enact a charter school law.

We saw a handful of states lift restrictions on growth. For example, New York made some important adjustments to its cap to allow more charter public school growth in New York City and more charter-authorizing activity by the State University of New York. In addition, Oklahoma expanded charters statewide.