The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
School spending equity since 1976
English Summary
Analyzing school spending from 1976 to 2021, this report challenges the popular narrative that high-poverty or non-white districts are systematically underfunded. While state-level differences remain a major source of inequality, the data shows that within states, spending became increasingly targeted toward disadvantaged students after 1995. However, low-poverty and predominantly white districts were found to be more protected from funding cuts during economic downturns, while overall average spending remains heavily influenced by state wealth disparities. The findings suggest that complex modern school finance systems—which rely significantly on state/federal funds rather than just local property taxes—are crucial for understanding true equity.
中文摘要
本報告分析了1976年至2021年間的學校開支數據，挑戰了「貧困或非白人社區系統性資金不足」的普遍敘事。雖然州級之間的差異仍是造成不平等的主要來源，但數據顯示，在各個州內部，自1995年之後，資金支出越來越傾向於針對弱勢學生群體。然而，研究發現低貧困且以白人為主的地區在經濟衰退期間反而更少受到削減影響；同時，整體平均開支仍深受州級財富差異的影響。這些發現表明，理解真正的教育公平，必須考慮到複雜的現代學校財務系統——這種系統已大量依賴州/聯邦資金而非僅限於地方地產稅。
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