Jon Valant

Jon Valant is the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on PK–12 education policy and politics, with an emphasis on inequities in U.S. schools and the policies that shape them. His work examines school choice, student discipline, public opinion, and partisan politics, as well as the barriers preventing families from accessing educational opportunities. He co-edits the Brown Center Chalkboard blog, collaborates with policymakers through research-practice partnerships in New Orleans and Washington, D.C. His research has been published in academic journals and featured in The New York Times, The Economist, PBS NewsHour, and NPR. He also serves on the board of directors of and the editorial boards of Educational Researcher and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and the Association for Education Finance and Policy. Valant earned an MPP from Harvard University, an MA in political science from Stanford University, and a PhD in educational policy from Stanford University.

updated 2025