When Teaching Exposed Inequality, She Turned to Public Policy for Answers

Britney Cheung’s (MPP’26) curiosity in studying inequality started as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, where she majored in Political and Social Thought. Her studies encouraged her to explore questions of opportunity from multiple perspectives, including how neighborhood integration might reduce educational disparities.

Building on her desire to make an impact after graduation, Cheung began her career as a middle school math teacher at a public school in Northern Virginia. Situated between a wealthy neighborhood and a chronically underserved one, the school offered a daily, lived lesson in how socioeconomic status shapes opportunity.

“That geography played out clearly in my classroom,” recalls Cheung.

Her honors students were largely from upper-middle-class families. “They were motivated, thinking about college, supported by involved parents and relatively well-behaved. I say relatively because they were middle-school kids after all,” she jokes. 

Her non-honors students faced a different reality. Many were disengaged and often burdened by household responsibilities. Their parents felt powerless due to the economic challenges they faced.

Cheung quickly came to a realization. “It became clear to me that the school alone could not address the complex structural factors shaping these students’ lives,” she reflects. “In college, I had studied inequality in an abstract and theoretical way. But seeing it unfold in real-time was entirely different.”

Her year of teaching also became a period of reflection. Cheung thought deeply about how inequality persists, the role public institutions play and how she could make the most meaningful contribution.

 “I realized I needed stronger quantitative skills to understand these systems,” she says. “That ultimately led me to apply to McCourt.”

Honing news skills to make an even bigger impact

As a first-year student, Cheung quickly embraced the program’s emphasis on training students through quantitative methods.

“I arrived with a modest level of quantitative background,” she notes. “I knew this was my chance to build those skills. With my humanities background, I naturally tend towards thinking about issues at a human and narrative level, but now I can complement that with empirical analysis.”

Now a second-year student at McCourt, Cheung’s academic work and commitment to service have earned her recognition as the 2025-2026 Whittington Scholar — an honor awarded to a student who exemplifies leadership, academic excellence and service to the public good. The Whittington Scholarship is awarded each year to an outstanding McCourt student in honor of Leslie Whittington, a professor of Economics and Public Finance who was killed during the attacks on 9/11.

Through McCourt’s Policy Innovation Lab, Cheung examined disparities in access to experiential learning in Washington, DC, partnering with an education nonprofit to design surveys, engage teachers and analyze data for a final report. She found the experience both professionally and personally meaningful. “The hands-on work was incredibly rewarding,” she says, “but so were the friendships I built along the way.”

She continues to build on this work as a graduate assistant at McCourt’s Center on Education and the Workforce, where she is deepening her focus on education and workforce policy — an area she sees as central to addressing intergenerational inequality. Building on this experience, she hopes to continue this work after graduation at the intersection of data, social policy and economic opportunity.

 “While I am open to different paths, this is the space where I feel I can make the most meaningful impact,” she shares about her post-grad plans.

Cheung’s distinction as a Whittington Scholar reflects a throughline in her path, from her classroom experiences at the start of her career to her data-driven work in education and workforce policy as a student. Each of these experiences reflects her commitment to serving others while excelling academically.

Outside of her academic and policy work at the McCourt School, Cheung maintains a strong commitment to community through music. She is a member of the Roseland String Quartet, which she co-founded during her undergraduate years.  “Chamber music has always been one of the most meaningful ways I engage with the world,” she shares.

The quartet performs at community events across Northern Virginia and hosts an annual fundraising concert supporting music education for underserved youth. Last year, their efforts resulted in the donation of sixteen string instruments to a local music education program.