ERA Founder Douglas Harris Participated in New Orleans Book Festival Panel on the State of the Nation Project

March 20, 2026

At the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, ERA Founder and Senior Advisor Douglas Harris participated in a panel discussing key findings from the State of the Nation Project’s first bipartisan progress report and what they reveal about the country today.

Dur­ing the con­ver­sa­tion, Har­ris offered an edu­ca­tion-focused per­spec­tive, high­light­ing how the project eval­u­ates the state of edu­ca­tion using three key indi­ca­tors: aca­d­e­m­ic test scores, aver­age years of edu­ca­tion, and the share of young adults who are either employed or enrolled in school. He not­ed that while the Unit­ed States per­forms above aver­age on these mea­sures, it is not among the high­est-per­form­ing nations. The dis­cus­sion also reflect­ed broad­er ques­tions that res­onate in New Orleans, where ongo­ing edu­ca­tion efforts con­tin­ue to focus on improv­ing stu­dent out­comes and expand­ing opportunity. 

The pan­el, ​“The State of the Nation Project: In Books,” also fea­tured Car­ol Gra­ham and Gary Hoover and was mod­er­at­ed by Tulane Uni­ver­si­ty Pres­i­dent Michael A. Fitts. 

Watch the full pan­el here.

Pho­to cred­it: Ken­ny Lass.