Kara Finnigan
@ksfinnigan.bsky.social
education policy, sociology, cross-sector (educ/crim justice/housing/etc), network/spatial analysis, segregation, regional equity, racial justice, policy implementation. Current study-Detroit housing/schls
Thanks for sharing this Ariel! Your research is so important in calling attention to and expanding the work around transportation justice and schooling. 👏
A little coverage at UMD of my work on mobility justice and school travel. @umdsmartgrowth.bsky.social
today.umd.edu/in-u-s-the-j...
today.umd.edu/in-u-s-the-j...
In U.S., the Journey to School Can Be Uphill—Both… | Maryland Today
UMD Research Changes Lives: Urban Planner Unpacks Growing Transportation Crisis in Public Education
today.umd.edu
September 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Thanks for sharing this Ariel! Your research is so important in calling attention to and expanding the work around transportation justice and schooling. 👏
Such a great resource w/ info related to early childhood, K-12, & higher ed....along w/ misc. cross-cutting topics like mine on research use. #education #edresearch #edpolicy #researchevidence @aefpweb.bsky.social @dbassok.bsky.social @carajackson.bsky.social. Check it out and share with others👇
Developing a syllabus for the upcoming academic year? Consider including the AEFP Live Handbook. It provides a dynamic, evolving collection of insights from education finance and policy experts. A digital hub for evidence-based education policy research: livehandbook.org/
Evidence-Based Education Policy Research | Live Handbook
Explore evidence-based education policy research at our digital hub. Access data-driven insights to improve learning outcomes and shape effective policies.
livehandbook.org
August 8, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Such a great resource w/ info related to early childhood, K-12, & higher ed....along w/ misc. cross-cutting topics like mine on research use. #education #edresearch #edpolicy #researchevidence @aefpweb.bsky.social @dbassok.bsky.social @carajackson.bsky.social. Check it out and share with others👇
Thank you for sharing this @equintero.bsky.social!
And thank you to @carlhendrick.substack.com for the thought-provoking essay: "Deep reading..trains us in the moral dispositions that public life requires: attention, imagination, restraint." substack.com/home/post/p-...
And thank you to @carlhendrick.substack.com for the thought-provoking essay: "Deep reading..trains us in the moral dispositions that public life requires: attention, imagination, restraint." substack.com/home/post/p-...
July 31, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Thank you for sharing this @equintero.bsky.social!
And thank you to @carlhendrick.substack.com for the thought-provoking essay: "Deep reading..trains us in the moral dispositions that public life requires: attention, imagination, restraint." substack.com/home/post/p-...
And thank you to @carlhendrick.substack.com for the thought-provoking essay: "Deep reading..trains us in the moral dispositions that public life requires: attention, imagination, restraint." substack.com/home/post/p-...
"there’s no sidestepping a president deploying the military in an American city based on ludicrous falsehoods about a foreign invasion. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a clearer signpost on the road to dictatorship."
I'll be joining "No Kings" mobilization Sat. Find 1 near you: www.nokings.org#map
I'll be joining "No Kings" mobilization Sat. Find 1 near you: www.nokings.org#map
June 10, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"there’s no sidestepping a president deploying the military in an American city based on ludicrous falsehoods about a foreign invasion. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a clearer signpost on the road to dictatorship."
I'll be joining "No Kings" mobilization Sat. Find 1 near you: www.nokings.org#map
I'll be joining "No Kings" mobilization Sat. Find 1 near you: www.nokings.org#map
These are the kinds of stories that help to show how vast and devastating the massive cuts to government offices are, and how they impact people's lives. Thanks for sharing your story about your dad with us @ansleyerickson.bsky.social!
Thanks to the Missoula Current for sharing this essay.
missoulacurrent.com/viewpoint-bo...
missoulacurrent.com/viewpoint-bo...
Viewpoint: Boulder, MT, kept my dad alive, as did the government
Ansley Erickson writes, Out of love for those who are no longer here, we have to fight to keep crucial government services. We can see beyond the bluster, because we know that our lives are not short-...
missoulacurrent.com
May 20, 2025 at 1:31 PM
These are the kinds of stories that help to show how vast and devastating the massive cuts to government offices are, and how they impact people's lives. Thanks for sharing your story about your dad with us @ansleyerickson.bsky.social!
A primary difference between her testimony & other witnesses' was hers was informed by decades of research evidence, along w/her own research, and allowed her to delineate critical areas for oversight. The voice of researchers is so impt to policy dialogue & decision making! #edresearch #edpolicy
Watching live stream of Genevieve Siegel-Hawley doing her public service today testifying abt charter schls & educ equity before House Committee on Education & Workforce's Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, & Secondary (w/ former student Jenna Roberson in audience) 👏 #edresearch #edpolicy
May 14, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A primary difference between her testimony & other witnesses' was hers was informed by decades of research evidence, along w/her own research, and allowed her to delineate critical areas for oversight. The voice of researchers is so impt to policy dialogue & decision making! #edresearch #edpolicy
Watching live stream of Genevieve Siegel-Hawley doing her public service today testifying abt charter schls & educ equity before House Committee on Education & Workforce's Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, & Secondary (w/ former student Jenna Roberson in audience) 👏 #edresearch #edpolicy
May 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Watching live stream of Genevieve Siegel-Hawley doing her public service today testifying abt charter schls & educ equity before House Committee on Education & Workforce's Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, & Secondary (w/ former student Jenna Roberson in audience) 👏 #edresearch #edpolicy
Grades are in, graduation is tomorrow! What a year! Grateful for these students who made my first year at @umich.edu extra special (and special shout out to Ashley and Brianna for their selfie talents)! #goblue
May 2, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Grades are in, graduation is tomorrow! What a year! Grateful for these students who made my first year at @umich.edu extra special (and special shout out to Ashley and Brianna for their selfie talents)! #goblue
What a great idea! Sharing for any early career ed policy researchers who may be interested 👇
🚨Organizing a paper swap for early career edu policy researchers.🚨
Share a nearly-complete draft, exchange feedback, and connect with peers.
Great if you’ve got a lingering project or diss chapter that could use feedback and soft deadlines to move it forward this summer.
Sign up & learn more here:
Share a nearly-complete draft, exchange feedback, and connect with peers.
Great if you’ve got a lingering project or diss chapter that could use feedback and soft deadlines to move it forward this summer.
Sign up & learn more here:
Education Policy Early Career Paper Swap
The goal is to create an opportunity for early career scholars and recent Ph.D. graduates to connect with peers at similar stages and receive constructive feedback on article-length drafts they’re pre...
docs.google.com
May 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
What a great idea! Sharing for any early career ed policy researchers who may be interested 👇
Was glad to see President Ono's name added to this letter this morning! #courageiscontagious
www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...
www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...
April 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Was glad to see President Ono's name added to this letter this morning! #courageiscontagious
www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...
www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...
Look what arrived! Congrats to Lora, Peter & @janellescott.bsky.social! This 79-chapter hdbk is critical to our field! @aeraedresearch.bsky.social #education #edpolicy #edresearch Our chapter on educ & social policy w/Jennifer Jellison Holme @markiejay06.bsky.social Walker Swain & Terrenda White
April 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Look what arrived! Congrats to Lora, Peter & @janellescott.bsky.social! This 79-chapter hdbk is critical to our field! @aeraedresearch.bsky.social #education #edpolicy #edresearch Our chapter on educ & social policy w/Jennifer Jellison Holme @markiejay06.bsky.social Walker Swain & Terrenda White
So true! "What is the cost of not resisting? What happens when educators stop defending stdnts & start enabling oppression? Authoritarianism thrives when people bend. It crumbles when they hold firm. For our republic to survive, ed. ldrs must be amng those who hold firm. Our children are watching."
OPINION: For our republic to survive, education leaders must remain firm in the face of authoritarianism
I know something about standing up to the authoritarian impulses of the MAGA movement. I resigned as Kentucky’s commissioner of education in late 2023 rather than enforce the GOP-dominated…
I know something about standing up to the authoritarian impulses of the MAGA movement. I resigned as Kentucky’s commissioner of education in late 2023 rather than enforce the GOP-dominated…
OPINION: For our republic to survive, education leaders must remain firm in the face of authoritarianism
I know something about standing up to the authoritarian impulses of the MAGA movement. I resigned as Kentucky’s commissioner of education in late 2023 rather than enforce the GOP-dominated state legislature’s shameful law aimed at erasing and marginalizing LGBTQ+ students. The Trump administration has escalated these attacks from hostile rhetoric directed toward students and K-12 and higher education to putting policies in place that are not just disruptive, but outright harmful — especially to the most vulnerable students. Across the country, education leaders are being forced to make some tough decisions — to choose between defending core values, such as equity and historical truth, or yielding to political coercion in hopes of avoiding conflict.
hechingerreport.org
April 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
So true! "What is the cost of not resisting? What happens when educators stop defending stdnts & start enabling oppression? Authoritarianism thrives when people bend. It crumbles when they hold firm. For our republic to survive, ed. ldrs must be amng those who hold firm. Our children are watching."
Glad to see this lawsuit brought by @democracyforward.org on behalf of @aeraedresearch.bsky.social & SREE in defense of #edresearch - research that is critical for educators, policymakers, parents, and students.
democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
democracyforward.org
April 14, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Glad to see this lawsuit brought by @democracyforward.org on behalf of @aeraedresearch.bsky.social & SREE in defense of #edresearch - research that is critical for educators, policymakers, parents, and students.
democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
Yes! An ex. of "strength of weak ties"! Amazing to see 4000+ people joining together. While a few universities are in headlines, people from all different institutions & general public, all over the country, are speaking out in support of education and democracy. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
April 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Yes! An ex. of "strength of weak ties"! Amazing to see 4000+ people joining together. While a few universities are in headlines, people from all different institutions & general public, all over the country, are speaking out in support of education and democracy. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Grading papers (policy-related book & documentary reviews) & thinking abt the amazing group of master's students in my policy analysis class....& how fun it's been to have them in my first class at UMich esp given all going on in the world. #education #edpolicy #GoBlue #EDUC646
April 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Grading papers (policy-related book & documentary reviews) & thinking abt the amazing group of master's students in my policy analysis class....& how fun it's been to have them in my first class at UMich esp given all going on in the world. #education #edpolicy #GoBlue #EDUC646
A civil rights issue @edebray.bsky.social @janellescott.bsky.social Janel George & I note in a recent brief abt ESEA reauth using our equitable, evidence-based, & ecol. framework. If not feds, states must address given systemic funding inequities & harms to students nepc.colorado.edu/sites/defaul...
April 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM
A civil rights issue @edebray.bsky.social @janellescott.bsky.social Janel George & I note in a recent brief abt ESEA reauth using our equitable, evidence-based, & ecol. framework. If not feds, states must address given systemic funding inequities & harms to students nepc.colorado.edu/sites/defaul...
👇 Richard Thompson Ford: "The greatest threat to the esteem of colleges is not DEI but their own unwillingness to forcefully defend themselves...Only a sustained & coordinated defense of the academy in Congress, the courts, & the court of public opinion can meet this challenge." tinyurl.com/3kb2xhdw
Gutting DEI Won’t Save Us
Only a sustained and coordinated defense can meet this challenge.
tinyurl.com
April 9, 2025 at 12:31 PM
👇 Richard Thompson Ford: "The greatest threat to the esteem of colleges is not DEI but their own unwillingness to forcefully defend themselves...Only a sustained & coordinated defense of the academy in Congress, the courts, & the court of public opinion can meet this challenge." tinyurl.com/3kb2xhdw
Reposted by Kara Finnigan
If you want to join this fight and show your own support for science and education and their essential role in democracy, you can join the 3700+ others who have already signed this open letter from @wearehighered.bsky.social.
docs.google.com/document/u/0...
docs.google.com/document/u/0...
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education To add your name to this statement, go to https://bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEdSign if you are having trouble signing at the above linked form you can ...
docs.google.com
April 2, 2025 at 12:22 AM
If you want to join this fight and show your own support for science and education and their essential role in democracy, you can join the 3700+ others who have already signed this open letter from @wearehighered.bsky.social.
docs.google.com/document/u/0...
docs.google.com/document/u/0...
standing up, speaking out, taking risks, thank you @booker.senate.gov 👏👏👏
I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:
Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker
YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker
youtube.com
April 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM
standing up, speaking out, taking risks, thank you @booker.senate.gov 👏👏👏
👇
the professors (some 4000 at least) are speaking.
We ask all sixty institutions under government threat to unite in a coordinated, proactive defense...we propose that the sixty universities and colleges...assemble a nimble task force to unite on effective, coordinated action...
We ask all sixty institutions under government threat to unite in a coordinated, proactive defense...we propose that the sixty universities and colleges...assemble a nimble task force to unite on effective, coordinated action...
Faculty Letter Calls for Interuniversity Defense of Higher Education
BY FACULTY LETTER ORGANIZERS The open letter discussed below originated after a group of faculty began to share notes about how their universities were handling the challenges presented by the Trum…
academeblog.org
April 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
👇
Reposted by Kara Finnigan
In case link stops working, here are screenshots of the text that I reassembled from the mailchimp URL. Apologies I could only alt text the first 2000 characters due to word limit. This text and images are quoted from original link posted at top of thread by Carlos F. Jackson, Dean and Professor.
![Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will continue at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
Dear Colleagues,
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) will continue at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design because our academic program and DEl initiatives are legally compliant, in alignment with our university values, and an extension of the mission of our school.
On Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 3:30 p.m., President Ono, Provost McCauley, CFO Chatas, and VP for Medical Affairs Runge wrote to the University of Michigan community announcing the elimination of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), the discontinuation of the university DEl 2.0 Strategic Plan, university-wide elimination of diversity statements, and legal review of existing programs to ensure they comply with federal law and guidance. Two hours prior to this announcement, I was walking through Pierpont Commons and took a picture of this University of Michigan sign, which explicitly states, "Our Core Values:
Integrity, Respect, Inclusion, Equity, Diversity, Innovation." The move to eliminate the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion directly contradicts these institutional values. While I, as Dean, and Stamps, as a school, did not directly create the University of Michigan's Culture Journey or signify these six values, we have collectively worked to honor them.
Integrity, Respect, Inclusion, Equity, Diversity, and Innovation are aspirations that establish a benchmark by which to measure our actions, actions that work to build and sustain our community. Throughout the 2024 national election, DEl, immigrants, and trans communities have been targeted as political flashpoints. On January 27, 2025, two DEI-related
Executive Orders that potentially impact the university were issued, including the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity order, which expands the application of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down... [truncated due to character limit]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7v32ymwa2bz72sihnbipopxg/bafkreibfthiw2qsoxpbh5qghqwfpycrlxbvxgenrtyoyveavx5k4rgi6ka@jpeg)
![I assure you, the Stamps School's academic program and initiatives to support faculty, students, and staff are fully legal and ethical. Secondly, the central claim in the "Dear Colleague" letter is erroneous, which attempts to argue that the United States wasn't founded upon structural racism. Despite efforts to rewrite history, the fact remains that the United States was founded upon systemic and structural racism. Chattel slavery, African Americans designated as 3/5ths a person, broken treaties and forced relocation, and Jim Crow laws are just a few examples of racism that is structural and systemic. A further example that systemic and structural discrimination existed in the country's formation is the fact that women did not have the right to vote until 1920, as suffrage has existed for only 105 years. The forces behind the "Dear Colleague" letter want to ignore these difficult truths that our country was formed on very unequal and discriminatory terms. Wealth that was generated through the formation of the United States came from land-taking and the greatest form of dehumanization, enslavement. These are difficult truths that our own
University of Michigan's Inclusive History
Project articulates through the most profound scholarly rigor and peer review. We must reckon with these difficult truths and figure out how to co-build the future together. This mandate of reckoning with history is the imperative that the civil rights movement and generation gave us, and we must now steward onward. Rather than reaffirming that we are operating academic programs that are legally compliant and affirming the value and prestige of the peer-reviewed knowledge production produced by the University of Michigan's 100 academic programs that are ranked in the national top 10 within their respective fields, yesterday, the university chose to eliminate the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion..... [truncated due to character limit]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7v32ymwa2bz72sihnbipopxg/bafkreieiju2ivbgrhm7723wgu3ttfvia32vh3umapjfv3axlg333v24lxq@jpeg)
March 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
In case link stops working, here are screenshots of the text that I reassembled from the mailchimp URL. Apologies I could only alt text the first 2000 characters due to word limit. This text and images are quoted from original link posted at top of thread by Carlos F. Jackson, Dean and Professor.
So many aspects of this statement are critically important & the leadership of Dean Jackson is inspiring. I hope this statement causes other leaders across the university & across the country to speak out.
Please stop what you are doing and take the time to read it. 👏
mailchi.mp/04bd06b0c03c...
Please stop what you are doing and take the time to read it. 👏
mailchi.mp/04bd06b0c03c...
DEI will Continue at the Stamps School
mailchi.mp
March 30, 2025 at 5:34 PM
So many aspects of this statement are critically important & the leadership of Dean Jackson is inspiring. I hope this statement causes other leaders across the university & across the country to speak out.
Please stop what you are doing and take the time to read it. 👏
mailchi.mp/04bd06b0c03c...
Please stop what you are doing and take the time to read it. 👏
mailchi.mp/04bd06b0c03c...
Reposted by Kara Finnigan
If you have a stake in higher education - faculty, staff, admin, alum, etc - consider signing our public statement affirming the values of education and diversity, and calling on university leaders to step up. It's at bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEd. Or look for others at WeAreHigherEd.org
March 27, 2025 at 12:02 PM
If you have a stake in higher education - faculty, staff, admin, alum, etc - consider signing our public statement affirming the values of education and diversity, and calling on university leaders to step up. It's at bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEd. Or look for others at WeAreHigherEd.org
"we believe it is our duty to speak out against the attacks on diversity & pluralism, on scholarship & learning, on academic freedom, & on democracy itself."
If you work at a college, university, or community college, no better time than now to read, sign, & share.👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
If you work at a college, university, or community college, no better time than now to read, sign, & share.👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education To add your name to this statement, go to https://bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEdSign if you are having trouble signing at the above linked form you can ...
docs.google.com
March 27, 2025 at 8:10 PM
"we believe it is our duty to speak out against the attacks on diversity & pluralism, on scholarship & learning, on academic freedom, & on democracy itself."
If you work at a college, university, or community college, no better time than now to read, sign, & share.👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
If you work at a college, university, or community college, no better time than now to read, sign, & share.👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Look forward to reading this recent book by @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social on chronic absenteeism based upon their ongoing research in Detroit.
‘Why schools can’t solve it alone’: New book tackles chronic absenteeism
https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025/03/26/michigan-chronic-absenteeism-lenhoff-singer-book-policy-makers-community-leaders/
https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025/03/26/michigan-chronic-absenteeism-lenhoff-singer-book-policy-makers-community-leaders/
Education professors say schools alone can’t solve chronic absenteeism
Nearly a third of Michigan students are chronically absent. A new book says we shouldn’t leave it up to schools to reduce that number.
www.chalkbeat.org
March 26, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Look forward to reading this recent book by @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social on chronic absenteeism based upon their ongoing research in Detroit.