Chris Yarrell
@chrisyarrell.bsky.social
Education attorney | formerly: @CityYear, @NYCSchools, @NYCMayorsOffice | writing on education & civil rights | cat person
Pinned
Chris Yarrell
@chrisyarrell.bsky.social
· Nov 23
Agreed. I recently had the opportunity to offer a few ideas on the topic for Education Week. Link below:
www.edweek.org/policy-polit...
www.edweek.org/policy-polit...
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
New from me today! An article at @lpeblog.bsky.social, about Trump's tariffs, Magna Carta, and why opponents of democracy always try to undermine the tax system.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
New from me today! An article at @lpeblog.bsky.social, about Trump's tariffs, Magna Carta, and why opponents of democracy always try to undermine the tax system.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
November 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Apparently, it is negotiable!
Health care isn’t negotiable.
We need to both reopen the government and work together to protect access to affordable health care by extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
We need to both reopen the government and work together to protect access to affordable health care by extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
November 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Apparently, it is negotiable!
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Just watched Virginia AG Jason Miyares' concession speech and it is astounding to hear him claim he made Virginia safer when he actively tried to make mass shootings worse.
He battled even modest restrictions on "pistol braces"—a device that helps you shoot more people with an AR-15 faster.
He battled even modest restrictions on "pistol braces"—a device that helps you shoot more people with an AR-15 faster.
November 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Just watched Virginia AG Jason Miyares' concession speech and it is astounding to hear him claim he made Virginia safer when he actively tried to make mass shootings worse.
He battled even modest restrictions on "pistol braces"—a device that helps you shoot more people with an AR-15 faster.
He battled even modest restrictions on "pistol braces"—a device that helps you shoot more people with an AR-15 faster.
“Amid a depression, Weimar governments used emergency powers to evade civil service protections and implement drastic austerity measures, cutting thousands of teacher jobs and reducing compensation.“
Excellent piece by @joshuaweishart.bsky.social
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
Excellent piece by @joshuaweishart.bsky.social
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
What Rhymes With Nazi? Far-Right Posse in American School Ponzi
How U.S. Education Politics Resembles Early Nazi Germany
edlawprof.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:37 PM
“Amid a depression, Weimar governments used emergency powers to evade civil service protections and implement drastic austerity measures, cutting thousands of teacher jobs and reducing compensation.“
Excellent piece by @joshuaweishart.bsky.social
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
Excellent piece by @joshuaweishart.bsky.social
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
“Only in understanding the nature of threats (whether inside the institution or beyond its gates) and the vulnerabilities that each clinical instructor faces can we develop any meaningful shields.”
Clinics Under Fire: Defending Legal Education from Political Interference
While legal clinics have long been vulnerable to pressure from outside forces, recent attacks by the federal government represent an alarming new level of interference. Protecting clinical work now…
lpeproject.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
“Only in understanding the nature of threats (whether inside the institution or beyond its gates) and the vulnerabilities that each clinical instructor faces can we develop any meaningful shields.”
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
This billionaire is trolling hardworking educators—and making jokes about gutting supports for special needs kids.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 PM
This billionaire is trolling hardworking educators—and making jokes about gutting supports for special needs kids.
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Appreciate the h/t Chris, the authors seemed to have missed my 2020 piece which would have added, I think, some helpful legal architecture to what they are proposing. Either way, pleased that the idea is getting some attention.
“ED has laid off most staff…Is this a good time to be questioning the underpinning of the whole system?”
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
October 30, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Appreciate the h/t Chris, the authors seemed to have missed my 2020 piece which would have added, I think, some helpful legal architecture to what they are proposing. Either way, pleased that the idea is getting some attention.
“ED has laid off most staff…Is this a good time to be questioning the underpinning of the whole system?”
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
October 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
“ED has laid off most staff…Is this a good time to be questioning the underpinning of the whole system?”
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
When protections shrink, we must expand. @joshuaweishart.bsky.social in 2020: “IEPs-for-all” gives students voice + teachers autonomy—letting us learn democracy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
“Acting collectively, colleges and universities could gain power by forging alliances—with each other and with professional organizations and unions—to fight effectively for these principles and the future of higher education.”
Today, Rana Jaleel & Risa Lieberwitz of the @aaup.org explain how the Trump administration has used Title VI to pressure universities to undermine free speech and entrench inequality, and how universities have largely crumbled in the face of this pressure.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-cor...
lpeproject.org/blog/the-cor...
The Corruption of Civil Rights and the Capitulation of Higher Ed
By weaponizing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Trump administration is using antidiscrimination law to protect privilege and entrench inequality. Yet rather than uniting to resist these sham…
lpeproject.org
October 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
“Acting collectively, colleges and universities could gain power by forging alliances—with each other and with professional organizations and unions—to fight effectively for these principles and the future of higher education.”
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Research is clear: millionaire flight due to higher taxes is simply not a thing. Millionaires move *less* than the rest of us and often move from one higher-tax state to another (because of amenities!). prospect.org/2025/10/23/m...
The Myth That Mamdani Will Cause New York City’s Richest to Leave - The American Prospect
Millionaire tax flight would devastate a future Mamdani administration. If the rich leave, how could anything be financed? But research shows that wealthy individuals move at lower rates than others, ...
prospect.org
October 23, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Research is clear: millionaire flight due to higher taxes is simply not a thing. Millionaires move *less* than the rest of us and often move from one higher-tax state to another (because of amenities!). prospect.org/2025/10/23/m...
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
"In the two years since the state started charging a 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million, the effort has created a $5.7 billion windfall, with the surplus being used to fund bridge repairs, bolster literacy programs and address the transportation system’s budget deficit."
Taxing the rich works!
Taxing the rich works!
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"In the two years since the state started charging a 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million, the effort has created a $5.7 billion windfall, with the surplus being used to fund bridge repairs, bolster literacy programs and address the transportation system’s budget deficit."
Taxing the rich works!
Taxing the rich works!
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Please use this letter for advocacy on your own campuses! Note that we also argue that public universities that sign onto this loyalty oath will likely be violating the constitutional rights of students and faculty.
October 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Please use this letter for advocacy on your own campuses! Note that we also argue that public universities that sign onto this loyalty oath will likely be violating the constitutional rights of students and faculty.
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
An amazing tool for advocating on your own campuses against the Compact (so much gratitude to @genevievelakier.bsky.social, @veenadubal.bsky.social, and @aaup.org writing this incredibly incisive letter that we can all use)
👀 👀 👀
👀 👀 👀
W/ @genevievelakier.bsky.social, the @aaup.org today released a letter to the Offices of the General Counsel at US colleges & universities. We detail why the Compact violates the Constitution & urge that no one signs it.
www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...
www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...
www.aaup.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
An amazing tool for advocating on your own campuses against the Compact (so much gratitude to @genevievelakier.bsky.social, @veenadubal.bsky.social, and @aaup.org writing this incredibly incisive letter that we can all use)
👀 👀 👀
👀 👀 👀
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.
One of the Biggest Cases of the Supreme Court’s Term Is John Roberts’ Decadeslong Pet Project
If there’s one thing the Roberts court has been consistent on, it’s this.
slate.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
It's especially rich for Clarence Thomas to suggest that the Constitution requires public schools to obtain parental consent before acknowledging trans students' identity.
Such a right would be rooted in substantive due process—a concept Thomas dismissed as completely illegitimate in Dobbs.
Such a right would be rooted in substantive due process—a concept Thomas dismissed as completely illegitimate in Dobbs.
October 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
It's especially rich for Clarence Thomas to suggest that the Constitution requires public schools to obtain parental consent before acknowledging trans students' identity.
Such a right would be rooted in substantive due process—a concept Thomas dismissed as completely illegitimate in Dobbs.
Such a right would be rooted in substantive due process—a concept Thomas dismissed as completely illegitimate in Dobbs.
I had the opportunity this weekend to present my research at the annual AALS Sections on Education Law & Children and the Law Works-in-Progress Conference. A wonderful experience with a brilliant group of scholars!
October 13, 2025 at 2:57 AM
I had the opportunity this weekend to present my research at the annual AALS Sections on Education Law & Children and the Law Works-in-Progress Conference. A wonderful experience with a brilliant group of scholars!
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
"I am purposefully “belittling” a “conservative idea.” Or maybe I am not. I’m not really sure what the legal threshold of “belittling” is, and while I have a pretty good idea which ideas should be considered “conservative” ... I am pretty sure McMahon does not."
"Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors." Brilliant piece by @sivav.bsky.social about the Trump administrations' latest effort to censor universities newrepublic.com/article/2013...
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down
How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education
newrepublic.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:13 PM
"I am purposefully “belittling” a “conservative idea.” Or maybe I am not. I’m not really sure what the legal threshold of “belittling” is, and while I have a pretty good idea which ideas should be considered “conservative” ... I am pretty sure McMahon does not."
“Every aspect of it seeks to dictate decisions that have traditionally been left to each university — a degree of control over higher education that is characteristic of authoritarian countries.”
In case you missed it: 🎁link to Erwin Chemerinsky's outstanding article on the Trump Administration's pernicious proposed "compact" with universities.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
October 4, 2025 at 8:46 PM
“Every aspect of it seeks to dictate decisions that have traditionally been left to each university — a degree of control over higher education that is characteristic of authoritarian countries.”
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
I'm very proud to share a new, first-of-its-kind analysis and data tool from my team at @educationwork.newamerica.org.
Redrawing the Lines is a first-ever look at how, if states draw school district borders with equity as the goal, they can HUGELY reduce funding inequality and segregation. #edusky
Redrawing the Lines is a first-ever look at how, if states draw school district borders with equity as the goal, they can HUGELY reduce funding inequality and segregation. #edusky
Redistricting School Systems Can Increase Funding Fairness and Decrease Segregation
A new report and interactive data tool show how specific redistricting choices can create fairer school systems for our children.
www.newamerica.org
September 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I'm very proud to share a new, first-of-its-kind analysis and data tool from my team at @educationwork.newamerica.org.
Redrawing the Lines is a first-ever look at how, if states draw school district borders with equity as the goal, they can HUGELY reduce funding inequality and segregation. #edusky
Redrawing the Lines is a first-ever look at how, if states draw school district borders with equity as the goal, they can HUGELY reduce funding inequality and segregation. #edusky
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
Reposted by Chris Yarrell
The Kavanaugh Stop
In which a top US Border Patrol official, incredibly, tells my tall and Anglo colleague @chipmitchell1.bsky.social that he's not the type they're looking for as they go about downtown Chicago arresting people based on "how they look"
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Feds in military gear flood downtown Chicago; top border official says arrests based on 'how they look'
The immigration agents were spotted making arrests in downtown Chicago and River North neighborhood early Sunday.
chicago.suntimes.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:11 AM
The Kavanaugh Stop
I’ve watched this clip several times today and still don’t have the words to fully capture what it stirred in me.
What I can say is how deeply grateful I am that it exists—and for the wisdom and presence of Bryan Stevenson.
What I can say is how deeply grateful I am that it exists—and for the wisdom and presence of Bryan Stevenson.
September 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM
I’ve watched this clip several times today and still don’t have the words to fully capture what it stirred in me.
What I can say is how deeply grateful I am that it exists—and for the wisdom and presence of Bryan Stevenson.
What I can say is how deeply grateful I am that it exists—and for the wisdom and presence of Bryan Stevenson.