Her main message to her fellow researchers: You’re not doing enough.
The restoration of IES will not happen, she warned, without widespread public pressure. The administration, she said, is responsive to parents, but parents are not protesting the loss of educational data and research. She added that she was “horrified” that more people in the field had not written articles explaining the stakes.
The room backed away. Many researchers were still suffering from the loss of federal research funding and the inability to seek new grants. (The grantmaking process has practically ground to a halt, and the Department of Education is sitting on millions of dollars in unspent funds appropriated by Congress.)
Jason Grissom, a professor of education at Vanderbilt University, said he just received an email that federal funding for his students is ending. He said he didn’t realize the field didn’t make a “strong enough case.”
But Vivian Wong, a research methodologist at the University of Virginia, disputed the idea that it would be realistic to build a broad coalition. “You can’t put the onus on parents to save the education system,” she said, noting that families are more focused on immediate care such as services for their children with disabilities. Providing evidence of effective teaching, she argues, is the job of good government and should not depend on parental advocacy.
Others raised a more personal risk: speaking out could backfire. One researcher worried that public criticism could jeopardize current grants, future funding decisions or even spark retaliation against her university at a time when the administration has shown a willingness to pounce. She asked Northern directly if she could guarantee that advocating for education research would not lead to consequences.
“I can’t say for sure,” Severna replied.
And that’s the binding. Researchers are told to speak out to save their field, but doing so can put their work and their institutions at risk.
Another possible lever is Congress. Some researchers have begun lobbying for their own representatives, but even there the path is not clear. One congressional office advised contacting the Office of Management and Budget, not the Department of Education, to release funds already appropriated.
Meanwhile, schools struggle with absence from work and falling reading and math scores. And the nation’s primary source of evidence and guidance on what works to address these problems is in limbo.
The researchers received one reprieve. Despite inflation, the Education Finance and Policy Association said it did not raise this year’s conference registration fee “in response to the challenges facing our community.”
This story about federal study of education is produced by The Hechinger Reportan independent, nonprofit news organization that covers education. Sign up for Evidence points and others Hechinger Bulletins.
