Michael Berkman is Professor of Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the author (with Eric Plutzer) of Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in America's School Districts (2005) and articles appearing in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, and PLoS Biology. He currently serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Education, and is a graduate of the Ardsley and the NY public school system.