Why America can’t afford to silence its universities

A rare point of agreement across the political spectrum for several decades was that money didn’t matter much in education. Conservatives opposed spending increases as wasteful; many progressives focused instead on structural reforms.

- Andrew V. Papachristos, Tribune News Service

But a recent Albert Shanker Institute report traces the crucial shift in thinking on K-I2 education spending, underscoring how more sophisticated data and methods have recast that belief. And it applies to higher education as well. Citing analyses from experts such as NorthwesternUniversityeconomist KiraboJackson and statistician Larry Hedges, the report authors write, “To whatever extent the idea that ‘money doesn't matter’ was ever credible, it is no longer.” Policymakers from both parties have now reconsidered long-held positions. In state capitals from Kansas and Virginia to Pennsylvania, education budget discussions now focus less on whether to invest and more on how to invest effectively.

This shift appears driven not by politics but by research that followed the evidence. Atits best, the power of university research can transcend partisan divides and provide evidence that improves policy for all Americans. Yet today, this essentialbridge betweenscienceandpolicyfaces unprecedented threats asthe new Department of Government Efficiency,underthesecondDonald Trumpadministration, hascalledforthe elimination ofthe Department of Education afterthe slashing of half the department's workforce, eliminating thousands of jobs, funding and oversight — and affecting fundamental research. As director of Northwestern's institute for Policy Research (IPR), | lead an institution that has weathered many political storms. Over the past 55 years, this research has remained relevant through nine presidential administrations — not by following political trends but by following evidence.