Michael Dannenberg

An Open Letter From Arne Duncan The former secretary of education weighs in on Trump’s attacks.

My take on the threat Trump poses to our system of higher education- America’s crown jewel.
He is destroying the goose that has laid our golden egg, as he attempts to destroy democracy.
We must resist- together!

You can open a free account to read my open letter.

www.chronicle.com/article/an-o...

Still waiting on the Trump administration to declare the legacy preference an unlawful violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. It carries just as much if not more of a disparate impact as the DEI policies the Trump administration continues to attack and declare unlawful.

Universities are grappling with how to pay new endowment taxes. Some analysts say the answer is to admit more students. - The Boston Globe More than a dozen schools across the nation are expected to fall under the top tax rate in the new Republican tax and spending law, including Harvard and MIT.

More and more folks are suggesting elite colleges embrace ⁦‪an‬⁩ “abundance agenda” to self-mitigate the effects of the endowment tax. 🤔 ⁦‪
‪@ezraklein.bsky.social ‪@dkthomp.bsky.social ‪@mattyglesias.bsky.social
‪@glastris.bsky.social

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/23/m...

The tragic fall of #UVa’s Jim Ryan is yet another indication that the Trump administration’s war on higher ed will not abate. Defensive lawsuits are good, but not enough. Time for higher ed to hit back and use participatory democracy to defeat those who would destroy it. #Harvard

It’s politically negligent that the Association of American University Professors doesn’t have a PAC like other interest groups. Scores of #Harvard professors already have pledged 10%(!) of their salaries to help Harvard fight the Trump admin. Imagine that nationally. #UVA @dynarski.bsky.social

University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration

Higher ed needs to start acting like a forceful special interest. Engage in polling, do msg development, mobilize students, make hard $ campaign contributions, finance soft $ campaigns…Call it the Campaign for Academic Freedom & hire a campaign professional. Do it now www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...

Five things to remember about war:

The House GOP “Big, [Not] Beautiful Bill” is replete with massive financial aid cuts - over $330 BILLION worth. And yet there’s barely a peep about it from elected Dems who rightly focus on even larger Medicaid cuts. Still, think about what the lack of attention to education says about where we are.

The end of MCAS is the end of an era. Now let’s figure out what comes next. With the number of states requiring students to pass exams in order to earn a diploma now down to the single digits, this feels like the end of an era. What should we do now? Let’s start by getting th...

End of course exams are working in North Carolina. Other states should take heed. @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social

The federal endowment tax (and massive GOP proposed increase) applies only to colleges with over $500,000 in wealth per student. If colleges subject to the current endowment tax let in enough more students, they could escape the tax entirely. #Abundance @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social @dkthomp.bsky.social

A college access wakeup call for Dems There’s a rumor in D.C., and it’s one that could pose a challenge for Democrats. There’s buzz in Washington that President Trump, concerned about a populist challenge from the lef…

A progressive elite higher ed acctly agenda: Cap tuition at super-wealthy colleges that needlessly charge working class & poor students; Condition tax-exempt status on getting rid of unfair admission practices; & Link the endowment tax to working class enrollment. www.nydailynews.com/2019/12/27/a...

House Republicans Propose Significant Endowment Tax Increase The current endowment excise tax of 1.4 percent could soon expand to numerous institutions and soar to as high as 21 percent for some, depending on value per student.

There’s no effort by the GOP to leverage the endowment tax to improve education opportunity. Not a penny raised by their proposed tax increase goes to education. Not even for Pell students. It all goes to tax cuts for the rich. Dems should offer an alternative www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

A college access wakeup call for Dems There’s a rumor in D.C., and it’s one that could pose a challenge for Democrats. There’s buzz in Washington that President Trump, concerned about a populist challenge from the lef…

Democrats should’ve gotten out front on the elite college access issue yrs ago. The below op-ed says among other things the size of the endowment tax should be linked to rich colleges’ enrollment of their fair share of talented working-class & low-income students. www.nydailynews.com/2019/12/27/a...

Colleges Shouldn’t Need to Address Deficits in High School Math Skills Five K–12 policy solutions to ensure math proficiency

Lindsey Henderson @flippyfeets.bsky.social is right. Time on task, high quality instructional materials, well-trained teachers, & frequent assessments boost math achievement. But stakes need to be attached to the latter as well. Stakes drive student motivation.

www.educationnext.org/colleges-sho...

Given Trump has threatened Harvard's ability to compete for grants _and_ its tax-exempt status, shouldn't Harvard threaten to act as a regular corporation willing to fund an independent expenditure campaign in unlimited fashion as per Citizens United? #Harvard could contribute $1 billion to an IEC.