The American Enterprise Institute, one of the nation's oldest and most respected non-partisan, right-of-center think tanks, recently launched a new initiative called the Conservative Education Reform Network. I am honored to be one of the founding members of this network (Update, 1/26/21: the WKU College Heights Herald wrote a feature story on my involvement with CERN).
According to AEI education scholar Frederick Hess, key organizer of this initiative,
Conservatives are positioned to lead on education far more effectively than we currently do. Unburdened by entanglements with unions, public bureaucracies, or the academy, the right is free to reimagine institutions and arrangements in ways that the left is not. There is much being done that is good and valuable, but in a sector dominated by left-leaning associations, advocacy groups, and foundations, those who approach this work with a conservative heart can find it difficult to connect with allies, supporters, and collaborators.
We hope CERN will cultivate creative solutions to vexing challenges in early childhood, K–12, and higher education and connect public officials, educators, savvy advocates, and funders in order to drive change in all manner of milieus — from the school house to the White House. We also hope CERN will serve as a resource for those looking to drive change, a redoubt for educators and reformers who feel isolated or trapped in a woke funhouse, and a beacon to those across the land who are eager to find ways to promote opportunity, strengthen communities, and fulfill the American promise.
A searchable database of more than 75 CERN members can be found here.
I believe CERN serves a valuable purpose both for broadening and deepening the conservative voice in education policy, but in also affirming the value of intellectual diversity in K-12 schools and higher education. For various reasons universities have become strongholds of progressive leftist ideology and increasingly K-12 schools are also hostile to voices of ordinary teachers who may believe in school choice, pension reform, accountability, or other policies. Right-of-center voices have been systematically delegitmized and the result are campuses that are often hostile to free speech and committed to a worldview out of step with the majority of Americans. CERN has a role to play both in challenging this kind of educational climate as well as offering thoughtful, constructive paths forward for education policy. I look forward to doing my part.
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