Policy Memo Topic Proposal

 

I want to help shape your work and scope your research. Please submit a short (no more than 250 word) summary of your policy memo topic during Week 4 of class.

For the memo, you should imagine that you are a state or city government policy advisor. Your governor or city mayor needs your boss to brief them on a critical problem facing your community. You need to develop a memo that will help your boss “get smart” on the problem and come up with some potential solutions. It is important to select a topic that is very specific. As an example, selecting “education reform” is too general. However, looking at whether your community should expand charter schools or accept new testing standards is better scoped. This specificity will help with your research too.