Maithreyi Gopalan

Think the Medicaid cuts don't affect you? Think again. : It's Been a Minute Republicans have passed President Trump's One Big, Beautiful bill, but is it built on bad faith stereotypes? The legislation guts funding for Medicaid, and for a long time Republicans have been attack...

Me & @joanalker1.bsky.social on @npr.org's "It's Been a Minute" talking about the erroneous stereotypes that drive Medicaid cuts & the fundamental connections between all of us. When we harm those whom government deems "underserving," we ultimately harm everyone.
www.npr.org/2025/07/04/1...

In this paper, my colleagues (Maithreyi Gopalan @maithgopalan.bsky.social, Kathy Emerson, Greg Walton) and I drafted a hybrid review + empirical article. We see it as a useful reference for anyone working to help colleges and universities create better belonging opportunities for students.

Are you working in civil rights enforcement for the federal government and being made to investigate racial equity programs OR are you an organization being investigated or had your federal funds stripped for racial equity work? Message me. Signal: nhannahjones.67

This framing is all wrong

Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”

They are our STUDENTS

They are the reason we EXIST

We teach STUDENTS

Depressing indeed 😕

Whether it’s DARPA creating the original Internet, or an NSF grant funding the origins of Google, or the NIH funding work that led to a miracle cure for a type of leukemia, or NSF funding work that ended up making PCR usable, or Defense research that led to the GPS system that made it possible to have real-time maps on our phones, we all benefit from putting public money towards scientific R&D.

“One point seems to be lost:

The reason that the federal government funds science is not just to provide scientists or government bureaucrats with jobs…

We fund science because it is in our national interest to do so!”

goodscience.substack.com/p/nsf-should...

Corporal Punishment in Public Schools in the United States — AdvancED Equity Corporal punishment has been present in public schools for decades. While certainly a diminished presence in 2025, it is still enshrined in state education statutes in at least 14 states as a legal wa...

I wrote about corporal punishment in public schools for a project led by @efrankenberg.bsky.social
and @maithgopalan.bsky.social While we see a steep decline in corporal punishment use in schools, there are still states that allow the practice.
Read more: www.advancedequity.org/briefs/cp-hi...

Excited for this special issue! Send us your best work! Focus is Prek-16 and expansive to broadly construe "Civil Rights". So higher Ed folks, law and Ed, history of Ed, sociology of Ed, econ of Ed, and policy folks - all welcome!

@jilli-jung.bsky.social in case you are still looking for a panel for our paper that's somewhat related!

How federal investments in education research help students succeed Researchers discuss how federally funded research projects have helped identify and scale programs that improved student outcomes.

How federal investments in education research help students succeed www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

What Rights Do Immigrants, Citizens, Green-Card Holders and Visitors Have? (Gift Article) The expansion of immigration enforcement actions by the Trump administration has thrown the status of some rights into question. See what is unchanged, what is expanded and what is in dispute.

Essential reading to know your rights. One thing to know is that no matter who you are, immigration officers can search your phone upon entry to the US.

Lawsuit Challenges Trump Admin’s Dismantling of Institute of Education Sciences - Public Citizen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)…

Proud of AEFP, of which I am a past president

www.citizen.org/news/lawsuit...

Congratulations, David! Can't wait to read it.

Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come | Social Science Research Institute By Erica Frankenberg, Penn State and Maithreyi Gopalan, University of Oregon, for The Conversation

SSRI associate director @efrankenberg.bsky.social & @maithgopalan.bsky.social wrote a piece for @us.theconversation.com about how big cuts at the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will affect vulnerable students for years to come.
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A special thank you to Michal Kurlaender and the program committee for all of their work on an excellent conference program this year! We appreciate your time and service. #AEFP2025

AEFP session 11.12 details @ 11:45a in Rhode Island session title: 60 years of Civil Rights Enforcement in Educational Institutions in the US - Taking Stock and Looking Forward Panelists: Maithreyi Gopalan, University of Oregon Erica Frankenberg, Professor of Education and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University, Rachel Perera, Fellow – Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings Robert (Bob) Kim, Executive Director, Education Law Center (ELC) Seth Galanter, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights

For folks at #AEFP2025 till the end, join us TODAY @ 11:45a for a policy dialogue session about 60 years of federal civil rights enforcement. Bring all your questions about OCR and civil rights!

Research with restricted-use data is more precise, powerful, and relevant. Faculty and staff will be working through the weekend to answer important research questions before we no longer can. This is not normal, necessary, or efficient.

Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come The layoffs further complicate staffing shortages at the Office for Civil Rights, which plays a vital role in promoting a fair education for public school students.

Short article with @maithgopalan.bsky.social assessing the stakes of changes & budget cuts affecting the Office of Civil Rights in the US Dept of Education. Students' full access to schools & universities will be harmed, as will research to understand inequality.
theconversation.com/big-cuts-at-...

Trump Firings Gut Education Department’s Civil Rights Division (Gift Article) Many of the office’s cases over the decades have served as a catalyst for broader policy change and social reforms.

Worth pointing out amidst Trump/McMahon's firing of half of ED's Office for Civil Rights yesterday that the agency was already staggeringly under resourced.

OCR's budget had remained flat over the last two decades while its caseload quadrupled.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

Stop by at #aefp to learn more about @uoregon.bsky.social coe's MS in Education Policy and Leadership (EPoL)! The ducks are almost gone - the best swag at this year's conference 😁

The dismantling of NCES is insane and will critically hobble progress in improving education - this agency is so important it existed more than 100 years before the creation of Department of Education.

Have also been hearing that about half of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within ED gone! Insane!

🧪The entire staff of the Department of Education’s NCES-a vital independent statistical agency - has just been RIFed. The continued erasure of data and evidence allows for the Trump administration to hide the impact of their corruption.
#EduSky #Scisky @aeraedresearch.bsky.social @cossa.bsky.social

AEFP Joint Community Group Happy Hour. Co-hosted by Scholars of Color, Ed Dev, First Gen, and Policymaker & Practitioner community groups. When: Friday, March 14 from 6:00-8:00 pm. Where: Blackfinn DC (1620 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006). Food and drinks will be provided!

Come to the Joint Community Group Happy Hour on March 14th from 6-8pm during the @aefpweb.bsky.social conference. All are welcome! Details are below. 🥂

AdvancED Equity also has harmonized CRDC files available for 2011-21, and we're anticipating adding the 21-22 files soon.
@maithgopalan.bsky.social

Cutting research funding would make education less effective and efficient Presidents of education research associations explain the impacts of recent funding cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

In this op-ed, we - the presidents of SREE and AEFP - joined forces to argue for the importance of evidence on "what works" and how cutting such funding is not "efficient" - it is wasteful. www.brookings.edu/articles/cut...

👩‍🏫 Who’s teaching the next generation? The numbers don’t add up—while the US #studentbody diversifies, the #teacherworkforce remains predominantly White.

New #DataViz by Drs. @maithgopalan.bsky.social, @jilli-jung.bsky.social & Paul Hanselman: doi.org/10.1177/2378...

1. Provide Members Ways to Gather in Community. With the known and potential funding cuts looming, we understand the importance of no-cost virtual and in-person gatherings with your colleagues and peers. This is a critical role SREE can and will play for our community for the foreseeable future. This is how we will begin: Virtual Gatherings Next Week Wednesday, February 26, 1-2 PM eastern. Register here. Saturday, March 1, 1-2 PM eastern. Register here. These sessions will be an opportunity to come together, share thoughts, ideas, and resources. You do not have to be a SREE member to participate.

For those dismayed at the future of ed research, especially IES:

The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) will host virtual gatherings next week

Don't have to be a member to join:

Wed, Feb 26: sree.memberclicks.net/wednesday--f...

Sat, March 1: sree.memberclicks.net/march1cc

Kudos to the school administrator who wrote this letter for making it clear to families what happened and who they should blame. This is the way to build a coalition--with a shared adversary and a reason to fight.

I worked on a few REL projects while at RAND & the connection btwn our research and the needs of local policy makers was clear, tangible & acute, and the impact was direct

This isn’t about cutting government waste, this is about finding more ways to undermine efforts to strengthen public schools