The Bottom Line

On July 13, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and American Center for Transforming Education Director, Keri D. Ingraham, spoke at the Forum on International Education and Leadership, hosted by Dallas Baptist University in Texas and held on its campus. The annual five-day educator’s conference is “designed to inspire, equip, and connect educators from across the nation and around the world.” It provides attendees with opportunities to network, visit local private schools, attend cultural outings, and hear from Dallas Baptist University faculty as well as nationally and internationally recognized speakers. The theme of this year’s forum was “Real Wisdom for Artificial Times: Navigating AI with Purpose.” Dr. Ingraham encouraged the teachers and administrators to consider how various uses of this rapidly advancing Read More ›

For generations, education has been confined to four walls, desks arranged in rows, and a curriculum increasingly disconnected from the world students are preparing to enter. Sadly, the majority of students today are disengaged and unmotivated. It is not because they lack potential, but because school feels removed from real life. At the same time, today’s children spend an average of nearly seven hours a day on screens while engaging in only a few minutes of unstructured outdoor play. As opportunities to explore, wonder, and learn through firsthand experience disappear, so too do many of the conditions that help children thrive. In Holland, Michigan, the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) Network is offering a way forward. It demonstrates what becomes possible Read More ›

Skepticism about the value of a traditional four-year college degree is growing across the United States. According to The Wall Street Journal, nearly half of American parents say they would prefer their children not enroll in a four-year college. While higher education remains a valuable pathway for many students, this growing trend reflects a larger concern: Too many young people are told that college is the only route to success, even when it may not be the best fit for their interests, talents, or career goals. For decades, students have been encouraged to pursue a college degree regardless of their individual strengths or aspirations. As a result, many young adults enter college without a clear plan. Unsure of what career Read More ›

A recent open letter signed by more than 2,000 University of California science, technology, engineering and math professors expressed concerns about something that put “UC’s mission…at risk.”

Over the past five years, they wrote, students have become increasingly unprepared for college math courses. The decline has been “so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics.”

The professors proposed a solution: The UC system should once again require students to submit SAT or ACT scores in the admission process, a practice it abandoned in 2020.

Keri D. Ingraham appeared on The Drive Home with Dr. Greg Seltz to discuss the new interagency agreements at the U.S. Department of Education that are returning power to the states. Dr. Ingraham also spoke about the dangers of woke worldviews in the classroom, the Department of Education’s failure to equip children for their futures, why it’s important to return to teaching the basics in education rather than political activism, and much more. Interview begins at 15:01

This was originally published in The Believe! Journal on July 4th, 2025, with the title: Is America Doomed to Decline? We republish it here for the United States’ 250th birthday, since its message remains relevant and important on this historic anniversary. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence With the 250th anniversary of our nation upon us, many are reflecting on the past while also considering the future. What makes America unique? Where is the great American experiment headed? Are our best days behind us? Is America doomed Read More ›

Across 423 counties in 13 states, 26 million Americans live with a persistent opportunity gap. It’s not because of a lack of effort, talent, or community commitment, but because big government systems meant to serve them have failed to deliver. At the center of that failure is education. For too long, families in Appalachia have been asked to accept a one-size-fits-all public education system that assigns children to schools based on ZIP code rather than need, fit, or school quality. The results have been predictable. According to the Appalachian Regional Commission’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey, just 27.3 percent of adults in the region hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 35 percent nationally. In Kentucky’s Appalachian counties, that number Read More ›

Keri D. Ingraham appeared on Futures Edge on June 22 to discuss the landscape of education freedom in America today. She and host Jim Iuorio discussed the Trump Administration’s progress in dismantling the Department of Education and why it was created under President Jimmy Carter. They also explore alternatives to public school and four-year colleges that can set students on paths toward a successful future.

Today, the Department of Education announced four additional interagency agreements as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to return education to the states. In typical fashion, the teachers’ unions and their political allies immediately attempted to spread fear, claiming that federal protections are being eliminated, a claim with no basis in reality. Instead, it’s yet another strategic step to reduce unnecessary federal bureaucracy, improve services, and move education decisions closer to the students, families, and communities they affect most. The first agreement establishes a partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Some opponents immediately claimed that students with disabilities would lose Read More ›

The Second Lady, Usha Vance, recently unveiled a Summer Reading Challenge for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Designed to combat the learning loss that often occurs during the summer months, the initiative encourages children to spend their break immersed in books rather than disconnected from learning. Children who choose to participate will read 12 books between now and September 4. Those who successfully submit their reading log will receive a certificate of completion, a personalized letter from the Second Lady, an America 250-themed bookmark, and an opportunity to win a trip to Washington, D.C. As a mother of three young children and expecting her fourth, Vance understands firsthand the importance of reading. She recently shared that reading is a Read More ›

For decades, the Appalachian region of America has been the subject of political promises, federal programs, philanthropic funding, and endless so-called solutions. Despite trillions of dollars in government spending and generations of outside intervention, the majority of Appalachian communities continue to struggle with poverty, addiction, outmigration, economic stagnation, and weak educational outcomes. Appalachia has long been given “the wrong kind of attention,” according to Garrett Ballengee, president and CEO of the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy. Under Ballengee’s leadership, the Center for Appalachian Renewal is committed to creating a brighter future for people, not another generation of paternalistic programs or distant experts managing decline from afar. Nowhere is that failure more obvious than in education. If Appalachia is going Read More ›

On May 28, Keri D. Ingraham appeared on The Andy Caldwell Show with guest host Dave Cross. Ingraham explains how the Department of Education is reducing its federal footprint. Ingraham dispels the fearmongering tactics of teachers unions and government officials and highlights how the major reforms happening in the Department of Education are incentivizing states to modernize their education systems. In part two, Ingraham explores how the push for phonics-based literacy instruction in states like Mississippi is producing better academic outcomes and forging the way for other states to do the same. School choice is empowering parents to ensure their child gets an academically rigorous education.