I first met Cecilia Marshall about a decade ago. It was not love at first sight. In fact, she made it clear that it was not her choice to work with me, or with Whiteboard Advisors. Had it been up to her, her employer might have gone in a “different direction.” She might deny this. But eventually we hit it off.

During one of our first conversations about inequity and education, I explained (as I often do) why Brown v. Board of Education was, in many ways, the legal lodestar for our work and how the exploits of Justice Thurgood Marshall weighed heavily on my decision to become a lawyer. As a kid who grew up in the shadows of Connecticut’s Sheff v. O’Neill lawsuit, the constitutional contours of education were more than the stuff of history books.

It didn’t dawn on me that they might be related. And you can imagine my surprise when a colleague pulled me aside weeks later to let me know that Cecilia was, in fact, Justice Marshall’s granddaughter. Red face. Not the first time my mouth was moving faster than my brain.

In the years since, I’ve had the good fortune of getting to know Cecilia, as both a friend and colleague (most recently, in support of Ed Advancement’s critical work and mission).

If you know Cecilia, you know that she has an intolerance for not just injustice, but mediocrity, operates with a fierce sense of purpose and has—in recent years—taken up the mantle as steward of Justice Marshall’s legacy. 

As it turns out, despite the ubiquity of his name, there has never been a singular institution charged with preserving and sharing Thurgood Marshall’s personal writings, artifacts, and history—until now. Earlier this week, and just in time for Giving Tuesday, Cecilia launched the Thurgood Marshall Foundation, where she is slated to serve as Executive Director.

The organization’s mission is simple: to preserve, protect, and promote the legacy of Justice Marshall, and advance his belief that democracy must be made, protected, and passed on by each generation.

Its work will be heavily informed by Cecilia’s first-hand understanding of the impact that her grandfather had (and continues to have) on the legal and moral architecture of this country. Without Brown v. Board, the everyday lives and outcomes of students would no doubt look profoundly different.

In the coming months, the foundation is expected to launch a curated digital archive of Thurgood Marshall’s personal possessions, speeches, and opinions—many of which have never been shared publicly—and develop civics education resources to be shared with classrooms nationwide.

At Whiteboard Advisors, we work with so many extraordinary nonprofits that choosing one to highlight would be a thankless endeavor. (Disclaimer: The Thurgood Marshall Foundation is a pro bono client.) But in a world full of worthy causes, it’s hard to imagine one more central to the space in which all of us operate. I hope that you will take a few minutes to consider their mission and potential for impact.

Yesterday, the U.S Department of Education (ED) released an agenda and a discussion draft of proposed rules of its upcoming negotiated rulemaking (AKA, “Neg Reg”) session. The Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee, set to meet next week, is one of the most highly-anticipated rulemaking sessions in recent memory. 

The AHEAD committee is tasked with handling many of the higher education rules outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including Workforce Pell as well as a new “do no harm” accountability metric requiring degree programs to lead to wages higher than for those with only a high school diploma. (ED will seek to tackle the latter in the next round of AHEAD’s negotiations that take place January 5-9, with many waiting to see how those rules will intersect with, or replace, the existing Biden-era Gainful Employment regulations that apply to for-profit and non-degree programs.)

The agenda and timeline is packed, and ED hopes the committee will reach consensus on the Workforce Pell provisions by December 12 ahead of the program’s launch on July 1, 2026. If consensus is not reached, ED will have significant discretion to craft the rules it seeks to finalize.

We’re watching the following potential rules for Workforce Pell based on the discussion draft:

Our team will continue to track Workforce Pell closely. Questions? Get in touch.

A new PACE report is renewing debate about California’s TK-12 governance structure, highlighting longstanding tensions among the elected state superintendent, governor-appointed State Board of Education, and the governor. 

The report argues that unclear roles and diffuse authority make it difficult to implement major initiatives—like Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) and community schools—with consistency statewide. PACE offers several options, from clarifying responsibilities to consolidating authority or even shifting to an appointed state chief (which would require a constitutional amendment). [EdSource]

California is not alone: Indiana recently moved from an elected state chief to a governor-appointed secretary of education, and other states may look to governance changes as budget constraints, implementation challenges, and shifting political dynamics stir tensions between public officials and school leaders. 

The map below demonstrates the differences in governance structures (elected chiefs, governor-appointed chiefs, board-appointed models, hybrid structures) across the country. Although there is nuance; even with the majority of states having their State Board appoint state chiefs, some of those boards are elected and some are appointed by governors. 

We’ll continue tracking developments in California—and across states—as governance conversations gain momentum.

Parents are navigating an increasingly complex school choice landscape—and their decisions hinge on the quality of information schools and districts provide. GreatSchools’ new national survey of more than 1,000 K-12 parents reveals not only where families search for school information, but how clearly (or not) they can find it, which details matter most, and how strongly communication quality influences their satisfaction and word-of-mouth advocacy.

Join us for a conversation on what today’s parents expect from school and district communications—and what these insights mean for enrollment, trust-building, and community engagement.

In a surprise move, U.S. House GOP leadership pulled the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act from the House floor, postponing what was expected to be Congress’s first major vote on a national name, image, likeness (NIL) and college athlete compensation framework. The decision, announced quietly by the office of Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), came without explanation, adding a new layer of uncertainty to a bill that has drawn intense attention from athletic departments, athlete advocacy groups, and NCAA leadership. [The Hill]

The SCORE Act represents one of the most sweeping federal interventions into college athletics in decades. Supporters eager to establish a national NIL standard argue the legislation would reduce the chaos of state-by-state rules. 

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have framed the SCORE Act as a rollback of employee and labor protections. They are instead advancing a sharply different, more consumer-protection-oriented vision of the federal role in overseeing college sports—one focused on protecting athletes’ ability to negotiate compensation, health and safety standards, and working conditions. 

In July, Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced the College Athlete Right to Organize Act (CARO), underscoring a partisan divide over whether federal policy should reinforce the NCAA’s current model and create national standards for NIL earnings or pave the way for classifying athletes as employees with the ability to unionize and participate in collective bargaining.

Postponement doesn’t mean the bill is dead, but it does indicate ongoing negotiations behind the scenes. The coalition behind the SCORE Act is broad but fragile—balancing institutional interests, athlete protections, conference power dynamics, and pressure from both sides of the political aisle. The employee-status prohibition is particularly contentious, with labor groups, civil rights organizations and some lawmakers urging Congress not to undercut ongoing NLRB and court proceedings.

The delay may also reflect concerns about timing. Bringing such a high-profile bill to the floor during an already jammed legislative calendar makes it vulnerable to late-breaking objections or amendments that could splinter support. 

Leadership could revisit the floor vote later this month, but a longer punt into winter is the more realistic outcome. As stakeholders across higher education and college sports recalibrate, the delay gives athletes and advocates additional room to push for changes to the bill’s employment and antitrust language. 

Institutions looking for a consistent national NIL standard are left navigating yet another stretch of uncertainty. The SCORE Act will sit on the sideline, at least for now.

Last week, University of Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham apologized to Brigham Young University (BYU) and its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church), for “religiously derogatory” chants used by fans during a football game. Nearly 100% of BYU’s student body identifies as Mormon. [USA Today]

The University of Cincinnati is the third school this year to apologize for fan behavior during athletic events against BYU, though this pattern of anti-Mormon remarks in college athletics is far from new.

Why it matters: As a BYU alumnus interviewed by Cronkite News who attended the February Arizona-BYU game put it: “I never mind if someone is attacking the school, but when you’re attacking an entire religion, that wouldn’t work in any other context.”

Growing skepticism about the value of a degree, enrollment declines, and exacerbating pressures are not only putting pressure on colleges to think and operate differently, it's changing the way that media covers them. 

So what’s top of mind for higher ed reporters?

At Complete College America’s 2025 Annual Convening, CCA communications director Kate Derrick moderated a panel with Scott Carlson (The Chronicle of Higher Education), Kirk Carapezza (GBH News, College Uncovered Podcast), and Johanna Alonso (Inside Higher Ed), to explore how the higher ed beat is changing.

Check out W/A Jobs, which features 3,288 career opportunities from 312 organizations across the education industry. A few roles that caught our eye over the past week:

For the young people in your life: Roadtrip Nation is sending three young adults (18+) on a road trip to discover how AI skills are being put to work in the workplace. The lucky three selected will travel the country in Roadtrip Nation’s big green RV, and their journey will be filmed for a documentary special. Applications are open until December 14.