Access, Inclusion, and Power

Who should have access to education, what should that education look like, and how should change be executed?Such questions are particularly salient as this issue goes to press.In the US, leaders at the federal level have advanced a vision that would reduce access to higher education, particularly for historically marginalized groups.At the same time, the White House has advocated for privatizing the K-12 education system in the names of free market economics and so-called parental rights.In response, those opposed to these changes have decried an overreaching federal government motivated by ideology and partisan rancor.Little historical training is needed to recall similarly ambitious reform efforts that unfolded during Barack Obama's presidency.During his administration, top-down changes came in the form of new rules, regulations, and guidance.These included changes to the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, particularly with respect to how states reported student performance and ranked teacher preparation programs.The Obama administration also sought to expand transgender protections through Title IX and to curtail abuses in the for-profit college sector through the Gainful Employment Rule.All these changes, unveiled with great fanfare and promise, are now in the dustbin of US history.The Trump administration and allied congressional leaders rescinded or overturned them all.Changes enacted during the Biden administration are likely to have a short shelf life as well.Biden's response to the first Trump presidency marked a swing back toward expanding transgender and LGBTQ+ protections, regulating career and technical education, and increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.None of these efforts survived the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, and more Biden-era changes are anticipated to fall during the rest of Trump's second term.These dizzying back-and-forth swings at the federal level are a sign of the times.They signal an increasingly divided public consumed by fire-eating political rhetoric.And the ultimate impact is systemic instability around basic questions.What kind of education do we collectively support?Who is included in that "we"?How is change best pursued?This issue sheds light on how these questions have been answered at different times in US history.The four feature articles track a variety of efforts-institutional, local, state, and federal-to address the needs of students and communities across the US.They also remind us of the need to remain curious about the origin of educational change and its legacy in our understanding of past and present.