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By Weade James

This column is the third in a 2024 series of products from the Center for American Progress that focuses on policy recommendations to enhance the use of technology in K-12 public schools.

Advancements in technology have revolutionized education, from the surge in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022. These developments have led federal agencies and education leaders to develop guidelines and recommendations for the field, including a National Educational Technology Plan, guidance for artificial intelligence (AI) designers and developers in education, and guardrails for using AI in schools. As technology evolves, ensuring accessibility and meaningful use for all students, particularly students at the margins, has become more important. A new rule issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in June 2024 seeks to remove accessibility barriers to technology tools and services for the 7.5 million public school students with disabilities, among other provisions.​-- READ MORE

By Colin Seeberger

Project 2025 is a plan to gut America’s system of checks and balances in order to enact an extreme, far-right agenda that would hurt all Americans. The plan proposes taking power away from everyday people to give politicians, judges, and corporations more control over Americans’ lives. Here are specific ways that Project 2025 would harm American seniors.

Limiting seniors’ access to health care and putting Medicare’s future at risk

Project 2025 proposes to make Medicare Advantage—privatized Medicare—the “default option” for all Medicare enrollees. Nearly all Medicare Advantage plans require enrollees to obtain prior authorization to receive certain health care services, which gives insurance companies control to interfere with choices made by patients and their doctors and makes it harder for patients to access care. Medicare Advantage plans also can restrict enrollees’ choices of physicians and hospitals. ​--READ MORE

By Tom Jawetz

From Texas to Iowa to Oklahoma and beyond, these Republican-led states are enacting immigration enforcement laws that are unquestionably illegal. Each of these states’ measures claims to assert state authority to regulate immigration and decide core questions such as who may be allowed to enter or remain in the country, who may be required to leave, and how such decisions are to be made.

Proponents of these laws have justified this unlawful usurpation of exclusively federal authority based on the false premise that the Biden administration has failed to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Courts must reject these unconstitutional power grabs just as they have rejected similar efforts in the past.

New state bills double down on unconstitutional provisions in previous anti-immigrant measures

We’ve been here before.​ ​​--READ MORE

By Aurelia Glass

Unions are at the forefront of how young workers think about their careers and their ability to support themselves with decent jobs. For the past several years, support for unions has reached an all-time high among American workers. More workers are voting in union elections, and nearly half a million workers went on strike in 2023 to push for better wages, including from automakers, studios, hospitals, and other employers. Throughout this time, young workers—members of Gen Z and younger millennials—have shown the highest support for unions out of every generation, consistently rating union approval higher than any other age group and leading in major organizing campaigns.

New data from Gallup shows that more than three-quarters of young Americans approve of unions. Seventy-seven percent of respondents age 34 and lower say they approve of labor unions—higher than any other age group—compared to 70 percent of respondents age 35 through 54 answering positively, and 66 percent of respondents over the age of 55 responding positively. ​-- READ MORE

By Lindsey McLendon, Rachael Eisenberg, & Nick Wilson

Crime spikes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic affected every corner of the country and rendered public safety a top concern for many Americans. While many categories of crime declined throughout 2023, these gains have not been felt evenly across the country, and fierce debates remain around causes and solutions. As policymakers, elected officials, and community leaders craft public safety responses, they should resist resorting to punitive strategies such as more aggressive enforcement and increased penalties, as these have failed to secure lasting and inclusive safety and have devastated communities across the country, particularly communities of color.

Improving public safety requires a comprehensive approach that pairs more effective and targeted accountability with greater investment into prevention, and public opinion research reflects robust support for this strategy.​ -- READ MORE

By Stephanie Hall, Sara Partridge, & Madison Weiss

Over the past 100 years, the higher education landscape in the United States—and the profile of the typical student attending postsecondary institutions of higher learning—has changed dramatically. Today’s students are more often older, juggling part-time or full-time jobs, and raising children, and many are struggling to meet their own basic housing and food needs. Meanwhile, the purchasing power of federal financial aid programs such as the Pell Grant, which once covered a substantial portion of college costs, has eroded, and more students have had to take on larger debts to attend college, to the detriment of their financial futures. These economic pressures make it increasingly difficult for contemporary students to focus solely on their studies, leading to higher dropout rates and prolonged time to degree completion for those who manage to stay enrolled.

There is a growing need to reaffirm a progressive vision for higher education that supports both individual and societal advancement. -- READ MORE