Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Thomas B. Fordham Institute The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is the nation's leader in advancing educational excellence.

06/01/2026

“There’s a surprising number of state teachers unions that are endorsing Republicans.”

On The Education Gadfly Show, Melissa Arnold Lyon discusses one of the more unexpected findings from our new report on teacher union strength: State-level politics don’t always follow the national script.

Watch episode 1019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z97uInEJ1Co

ICYMI in this week’s Education Gadfly Weekly:• Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli examine the changing power of t...
05/28/2026

ICYMI in this week’s Education Gadfly Weekly:

• Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli examine the changing power of teacher unions across all fifty states and D.C.
• Meredith Coffey looks at why too many secondary students still aren’t reading enough full-length books.
• Kathleen Porter-Magee reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s warning about the “wise use of powerful tools” and what it means for AI literacy.

Read more:
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly

AI proficiency is knowing how to use the tools. AI literacy is something deeper.Kathleen Porter-Magee reflects on Pope L...
05/28/2026

AI proficiency is knowing how to use the tools. AI literacy is something deeper.

Kathleen Porter-Magee reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s call for the “wise use of powerful tools” and argues that schools should not let Big Tech define AI literacy on its own terms.

Genuine literacy, she writes, requires students and teachers to understand how AI works, whose interests it serves, what it costs, and how it shapes the people using it.

Read more:
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/wise-use-powerful-tools

How much influence do teacher unions still have in today’s K–12 education landscape?Our new report from Melissa Arnold L...
05/27/2026

How much influence do teacher unions still have in today’s K–12 education landscape?

Our new report from Melissa Arnold Lyon, Sandy Frost Waldron, and Rebecca Jacobsen updates Fordham’s 2012 rankings of state teacher union strength, drawing on the latest public data and a new survey of K–12 stakeholders across all fifty states and D.C.

The takeaway: The K–12 landscape has grown more crowded and contested over the past fifteen years. In many places, teacher unions remain influential, but they are no longer necessarily the most powerful voice in the room.

Read A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/crowded-table-teacher-union-strength-2026

05/05/2026

New findings highlight the shifts in reading curriculum, PD, and teacher practice during the "science of reading” movement.

📖 Read more: https://bit.ly/4elHsam

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