In our EPSA programs, we like to gather information about professional journeys of our alumni. Sometimes it is a professor, who offers an update on their alumni achievements and successes. On April 14, 2021, I got an enthusiastic message from Prof. Priscilla Wohlstetter in which she wrote about one of her recent advisees. “Levi Bohanan just joined the Biden administration!” The person she was referring to is the Education Policy, M.A. graduate (May 2020), Levi Bohanan. On April 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education announced some new Biden-Harris appointees and Levi was among them. He was hired for the position of Special Assistant to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
We knew from Levi’s application to the Education Policy (EPOL) master’s program that he had not been a stranger to the federal government, nonprofit organizations, or think tanks. Levi interned in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC; had appointments in the Obama administration under Education Secretaries Arne Duncan and John King; and worked as a Fellow at the Bank Street College of Education. Lucky for us, Levi brought his many policy experiences into TC class discussions.
As Levi’s academic advisor, Prof. Priscilla Wohlstetter often had conversations with Levi about policy work in the federal government. Those mainly focused on issues of equity and diversity at two different points in time – one this century, the other last! Then, she would always ask Levi, “Who have you recently added to your directory of policy wonks?”
Early on, with her advisees interested in federal government, Prof. Wohstetter often pointed out TC courses that may help prepare students for next steps – The Federal Policy Institute with Prof. Lynn Kagan, Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) with Prof. Jim Liebman and Liz Chu of Columbia Law School, and The Logic and Design of Research course with Prof. Carolyn Riehl, which invites students to conduct a literature review on a topic of interest. In Levi’s case, he focused on early childhood education, which laid the foundation for his position as part of Next100.
After graduating from Teachers College, Levi served as a Policy Entrepreneur at Next100, a progressive public policy think tank created by the next generation of policy leaders, where he focused on early childhood education policy and P-12 education policy. He told us later that he had found his time at Next100 incredibly useful, as it gave him an opportunity to work on public policy that was important to him.
Levi’s experience as a Policy Entrepreneur ultimately landed him in the U.S. Department of Education. He reached out to TC’s Education Policy students and before leaving Next100 sent them information about how our graduates could apply for the next cohort of the Next100 Policy Entrepreneurs. Levi was building up his network contacts and a passion for spreading the word about his policy experiences to inform his whole network.
Of course, I was curious about how a M.A. degree program alum slides-in to a position in top educational institutions. How would he advise our current students on how even start a job search process? Levi’s best advice is to identify people in the field that have the job that they would like, or a job that is similar to one that they want, and reach out to them. He strongly advises against being shy and encourages job seekers to send an email to all these people. In his opinion, a 30 minute "virtual coffee" is a great way to learn more about the person, their role, and their background. Building relationships (with your network) is a critical part of finding the job that’s right for you.
Levi says that Teachers College gave him an opportunity to develop and strengthen the skills he was already establishing through his federal policy work. The training that he received in critical analysis and research methods, for instance, helped expand his skill sets and prepared him to tackle policy work in a whole new way. “I now think of new tools in my toolbelt--with additional skills like quantitative data analysis, or qualitative data collection. New trends can become apparent as you work through a dataset.“
Finally, I asked Levi about the major focus that the U.S. Department of Education now has. In his opinion, with the return to school season upon us, the bulk of the work is focused on making sure that policymakers in schools, districts, and states have the tools they need to return to in-person instruction safely, and address the academic impact of lost instructional time, particularly for those students most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as always in the most recent years, expanding educational equity by increasing investment in underserved populations will be a critical goal for anyone interested in education at any level.
As a program manager, I found that Levi always offered his time to volunteer when he was asked for help and advice. In recent years, he joined us during information sessions for newly admitted TC students, answered their questions, and was a valuable advocate for our program. We wish him continuous success and hope to see him at our next alumni panels.
If you have missed this news before, we also learned from TC News that Jessica Cardichon, POLC-EdD 2003 (a TC News story) and ECON program professor Jordan Matsudaira (Jordan Matsudaira appointed for the position of the Deputy Under Secretary of Education) are now also at the USDOE.