Much of the data that school districts release is scattered and unorganized, making it difficult to access and use.
Continue readingWhat kinds of data do school districts release?
What datasets are school districts releasing anyway?
Continue readingAnnouncing Sunlight’s Education Data Policy Compendium
We want to find out how schools currently treat their data, so we're building a compendium of school districts’ policies and other rules related to the release of education data.
Continue readingA look at local education data policies
The Sunlight Foundation has covered different sides of education, surrounding lobbying, campaign contributions and ad spending. However, one can’t underestimate the importance of education itself: The quality of a school can determine the strength of a community, the future of an economy and the livelihoods of its many students. From a broader open government perspective, too, education is crucial.
Continue readingPublic universities, for-profit colleges seek higher stake in student loans
Younger voters are notoriously disinterested in the political process. But an analysis of student loan lobbying suggests that major players in the political process are interested in them.
Continue readingThere’s no summer vacation for education lobbying
Though the fall doesn't officially start for another couple of weeks, for most Americans summer ends when school buses begin running their routes and college football broadcasts return to Saturdays. While educational institutions from kindergartens to law schools are welcoming students back, there was no summer vacation in Washington, where their lobbyists have reported spending more than $43 million lobbying Congress and the executive branch so far this year.
It's easy to understand why. Altogether, the federal government spent $47.5 billion on elementary and secondary education in 2012, the last full year for which statistics are available ...
Continue readingInfluence Explored: Education Sector Contributes Millions to Presidential Race
With the Higher Education Opportunity Act up for renewal in 2013, either President Obama or Mitt Romney will need to address higher education, particularly funding and student loans. And although neither campaign has placed much focus on higher education, both candidates touched on the issue during the Presidential debates.
How the NSF allocates billions of federal dollars to top universities
As another college year begins, tens of thousands of academics will once again be scrambling to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation, hoping to secure government funding for their research. Each year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) bestows more than $7 billion worth of federal funding on about 12,000 research proposals, chosen out of about 45,000 submissions. Thanks to the power of open data, we can now see how representation on NSF federal advisory committees connects to which universities get the most funding. (Federal advisory committee membership data is a feature of Influence Explorer.) Our analysis finds a clear correlation between the universities with the most employees serving on the NSF advisory committees and the universities that receive the most federal money. Overall about 75% of NSF funding goes to academic institutions. Even when controlling for other factors, we find that for each additional employee a university has serving on an NSF advisory committee that university can expect to see an additional $125,000 to $138,000 in NSF funding.
Continue readingFor-Profit College Gears Up For Republican Control of House
Kaplan, one of the nation’s largest for-profit colleges, has hired a team of Republican lobbyists with congressional experience as the... View Article
Continue readingOpen Government: idling in the driveway
Sigh. I feel like a disappointed parent. When the details of the Open Government Directive were announced early last December... View Article
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