Jen Jennings
@jenjennings.bsky.social
All things K-12 education policy. Professor @PrincetonSPIA & Sociology; Director, Education Research Section.
when science calls to bless your high fat cheese habit
December 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM
when science calls to bless your high fat cheese habit
If you want to re-experience this 1980s squeezy toy, but way better, you need a Speks Jumbo Gump.
December 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
If you want to re-experience this 1980s squeezy toy, but way better, you need a Speks Jumbo Gump.
Here's the annual comparison of NYC lab-reported flu cases.
December 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Here's the annual comparison of NYC lab-reported flu cases.
Looks like this may be a big flu season for NYC kids. As the NYT reports below, only ~1 in 4 NYC kids >6 months has received the flu shot this season.
December 16, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Looks like this may be a big flu season for NYC kids. As the NYT reports below, only ~1 in 4 NYC kids >6 months has received the flu shot this season.
cosigning, and back over there, dedicated this to him
December 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
cosigning, and back over there, dedicated this to him
After avoiding getting a new driver’s license for decades, Uber’s 2025 look back is the rude intervention that will finally deliver me to the DMV
December 16, 2025 at 1:34 PM
After avoiding getting a new driver’s license for decades, Uber’s 2025 look back is the rude intervention that will finally deliver me to the DMV
A better college pitch for boys than learning and earning
December 15, 2025 at 10:59 AM
A better college pitch for boys than learning and earning
December 12, 2025 at 12:07 PM
December 12, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Zach Bleemer's work takes up this issue directly
December 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Zach Bleemer's work takes up this issue directly
"Immigrants comprise nearly 20% of the child care workforce in the U.S. This paper studies the impact of a major immigration enforcement policy, Secure Communities (SC)....we find that the program reduced children’s participation in center-based child care programs."
December 8, 2025 at 6:35 PM
"Immigrants comprise nearly 20% of the child care workforce in the U.S. This paper studies the impact of a major immigration enforcement policy, Secure Communities (SC)....we find that the program reduced children’s participation in center-based child care programs."
Jessica Brown also found that NYC UPK "reduced the capacity for children younger than 2 years old at private child care centers by 2,700 seats, and this decline was not offset by an increase in provision in the home day care market. The entire decrease in capacity occurs in areas with high poverty"
December 8, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Jessica Brown also found that NYC UPK "reduced the capacity for children younger than 2 years old at private child care centers by 2,700 seats, and this decline was not offset by an increase in provision in the home day care market. The entire decrease in capacity occurs in areas with high poverty"
The vanity bib was free, so I registered my husband and me as Thing 1 and Thing 2. #PhillyLoveRun
December 8, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The vanity bib was free, so I registered my husband and me as Thing 1 and Thing 2. #PhillyLoveRun
Here, an Iowa public school district with declining enrollment proposes an online school to pull in more students, even as virtual schools consistently harm student learning.
But the potential to enroll more kids - both near and far - is what matters for the district's bottom line.
But the potential to enroll more kids - both near and far - is what matters for the district's bottom line.
December 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Here, an Iowa public school district with declining enrollment proposes an online school to pull in more students, even as virtual schools consistently harm student learning.
But the potential to enroll more kids - both near and far - is what matters for the district's bottom line.
But the potential to enroll more kids - both near and far - is what matters for the district's bottom line.
5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convictions
December 4, 2025 at 11:33 AM
5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convictions
Guess which university just approved an Education Studies minor? 🧡🧡🧡
December 4, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Guess which university just approved an Education Studies minor? 🧡🧡🧡
When history textbooks ultimately retell the story of this year, teachers will have to explain this picture to American children.
December 4, 2025 at 10:31 AM
When history textbooks ultimately retell the story of this year, teachers will have to explain this picture to American children.
From hanging chads to hanging at home: Broward County is now the epicenter of Florida's home schooling growth.
November 25, 2025 at 3:50 PM
From hanging chads to hanging at home: Broward County is now the epicenter of Florida's home schooling growth.
The empirical question at hand:
does Thanksgiving week make the average 7am Amtrak rider more or less offensive? It begins. Capybara clip lends calm, unbothered energy.
does Thanksgiving week make the average 7am Amtrak rider more or less offensive? It begins. Capybara clip lends calm, unbothered energy.
November 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The empirical question at hand:
does Thanksgiving week make the average 7am Amtrak rider more or less offensive? It begins. Capybara clip lends calm, unbothered energy.
does Thanksgiving week make the average 7am Amtrak rider more or less offensive? It begins. Capybara clip lends calm, unbothered energy.
All that practice teaching stuffed animals is about to pay off.
November 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
All that practice teaching stuffed animals is about to pay off.
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." - Justice Louis Brandeis
November 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." - Justice Louis Brandeis
Only half of Republicans support vaccine requirements for school attendance. The intersection of those attitudes with school voucher polices: Titanic, “may I meet you, glacier?”
November 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Only half of Republicans support vaccine requirements for school attendance. The intersection of those attitudes with school voucher polices: Titanic, “may I meet you, glacier?”
If you want broad-based support for Sociology, maybe don't name the annual meeting "Disrupting the Status Quo."
November 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
If you want broad-based support for Sociology, maybe don't name the annual meeting "Disrupting the Status Quo."
We're studying school vouchers in my ugrad ed policy class this week. No student argued that private schools receiving public $ should be able to exclude students based on religious belief or LGBTQ status. That, btw, is how "educational pluralism" works in UK: no public $ for discrimination.
![Using at least two of the readings, answer one of these questions:
1) Consider how the rights of parents to select an education aligned with their religious beliefs should be weighed against the societal need for an educated population. What role, if any, should government funding play in supporting schools that are based on particular religious tenets, and that can exclude students based on religious belief?
2) In states with voucher programs, private schools that explicitly discriminate against LGBTQ families and children are eligible to receive public funds. Make an argument about whether such schools should receive public funds, while engaging with the readings for this week.
***
Driver, Justin. 2019. The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind. Vintage, 2019. “Chapter 7: The Quiet Détente over Religion and Education.” [Access Via eBook]
Harris, Douglas N. 2024. "How free market logic fails in schooling—and what it means for the role of government." Educational Researcher 53(2): 111-122.
Eckes, Suzanne E., Julie Mead, and Jessica Ulm. 2016. "Dollars To Discriminate: The (Un) Intended Consequences of School Vouchers." Peabody Journal of Education 91(4): 537-558.
Burke, Lindsey M. and Jay P. Greene. 2021. “The Values-Based Case for School Choice is Also the Winning Case.” American Enterprise Institute.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:add2c5b7cmkibesfmzraregh/bafkreia4mdcutinclkmil67ypapguwtsxr5w75civuesx6m4cgkp3th5su@jpeg)
November 19, 2025 at 12:59 PM
We're studying school vouchers in my ugrad ed policy class this week. No student argued that private schools receiving public $ should be able to exclude students based on religious belief or LGBTQ status. That, btw, is how "educational pluralism" works in UK: no public $ for discrimination.