This Week: Not sure we were ever in style, to be honest.  But, some new data from SUNY Albany shows that the common assumption that the lack of male teachers -- nearly 90% of elementary teachers are female -- hurts boys in their earliest years of academic development, may in fact be wrong. Turns out that in this study, there is no difference in academic achievement between kids who had all female teachers and those who had both male and female teachers. Does this mean male educators are obsolete, or is there more to the story?  Plus, districts facing escalated ICE terrorism are seeing significant declines in enrollment, not just challenges with attendance. LAUSD has seen a drop in EL enrollment of 13,000 students in one year, with a particularly steep decline in Spanish speaking students. What does this mean for the nation’s schools and children? Manuel and Jeff discuss!  

Free Masterclass Monday Nov 24th from our good friends at Multicultural Classroom! "Teaching in Truth: How to Stay Centered and Culturally Sustaining in a Climate of Censorship" Info Here

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

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Today on AOTA Shorts: In a both groundbreaking and not at all surprising analysis of student test scores from a Florida community besieged by ICE terrorism and lawless detainment of community members, it turns out that this sort of madness has a negative effect on student learning. Who’d a thunk it? Will this deter the right wing extremists in power to change course?  Probably not. But, it’s even more clear than ever that this has nothing to do with law and order, or keeping communities safe. It’s doing deep, systemic harm to kids and communities, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The data also shows that the harms to student learning extend beyond just those students who are undocumented, or who are themselves the targets of ICE terrorism. The entire community is negatively affected, especially those students who are Spanish speaking. Manuel and Jeff discuss!

Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

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Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: We begin with some highlights from members of the AOTA family. One listener responds to last week’s discussion about vouchers and reports from the dark side in FL about what it’s like for parents who can’t trust the education system under Desantis. Then, is the USDOE really trolling us online with their insane social media posts? Yes. Yes, they are. What an utter embarrassment to the office and the profession. Lastly, we celebrate the people of Colorado voting to increase taxes on higher income folks in their state in order to preserve universal free meals in schools. In the face of so much right wing insanity, this is an important proof point that the people will support progressive, justice orientated legislation, even if it means making wealthier folks pay more.  Manuel and Jeff discuss!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

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This Week: The state of Florida has distinguished itself in recent years as a true laboratory for right wing extremist policy in education. Well, the process continues as the impacts of vouchers and efforts to privatize public education are reaching new heights. As schools battle for “market share” and districts sell access to courses on an Amazon-like website, the public coffers are being drained faster than ever before. Meanwhile, in so-called liberal California, amidst the passage of AB 715, which conflates critique of Israel with Antisemitism and instills a draconian oversight structure over schools and educators, Oakland Unified is found to have created a “discriminatory environment” for things like the display of Palestinian flags, allowing an unsponsored a teach-in about Israeli genocide and colonialism, and posting “Free Palestine” posters in classrooms. Thankfully, the fight is not over on AB 715. The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee is filing a federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the law, which violates first Amendment rights, and could have an extreme chilling effect on educators’ ability to teach truthfully about the genocide in Palestine and the actions of the Israeli government. At the same time, the law ignores the rising tide of right wing antisemitism brewing among influencers with millions of followers, many who are teenagers sitting in American high schools.  

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AOTA  

Watch at: YouTube.com/AlloftheAbove

Follow us at: LinkedIn, Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow

This Week: The state of Florida has distinguished itself in recent years as a true laboratory for right wing extremist policy in education. Well, the process continues as the impacts of vouchers and efforts to privatize public education are reaching new heights. As schools battle for “market share” and districts sell access to courses on an Amazon-like website, the public coffers are being drained faster than ever before. Meanwhile, in so-called liberal California, amidst the passage of AB 715, which conflates critique of Israel with Antisemitism and instills a draconian oversight structure over schools and educators, Oakland Unified is found to have created a “discriminatory environment” for things like the display of Palestinian flags, allowing an unsponsored a teach-in about Israeli genocide and colonialism, and posting “Free Palestine” posters in classrooms. Thankfully, the fight is not over on AB 715. The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee is filing a federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the law, which violates first Amendment rights, and could have an extreme chilling effect on educators’ ability to teach truthfully about the genocide in Palestine and the actions of the Israeli government. At the same time, the law ignores the rising tide of right wing antisemitism brewing among influencers with millions of followers, many who are teenagers sitting in American high schools.  

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AOTA  

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Follow us at: LinkedIn, Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow

Today on AOTA Shorts: Algorithmic bias is the technical term. Racism in, racism out. But in practice, the unthinkable nearly came to pass last week when a high school student in Baltimore County, MD was hanging outside his school and was soon confronted by armed police ordering him to the ground. The boy had finished a bag of Doritos, crumpled it up and placed it in his pocket, which the school’s AI security system deemed to be a weapon. This triggered the notification of law enforcement, who arrived with guns blazing. Also, we return to our discussion on last week’s short with a comment from a listener. In a world where the potential harm of AI is so great, how should we address its proper use in schools to help equity young people for modern life? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AOTA  

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This Week: The popular narrative in the American public discourse that teaching is somehow both super easy -- you get off at 3, you have summers off, it’s an easy profession to enter -- and also so hard and low paying that it’s a “noble” profession like the priesthood, still persists. Some new data from the 2025 RAND Corp’s American Teacher Survey tells a much more stark narrative about the stress, burnout, and challenges of doing the work. And, the comparisons between American educators and those around the world shows, contrary to our conservative friends’ rhetoric, America is far from #1. What does this mean for the teaching profession, and the future of our nation’s public schools? Also, we dig into a fascinating piece about a new effort in CA to reimagine what secondary schools can look like. From breaking down the old Carnegie unit infrastructure, to reimagining schedules, facilitates, and curriculum, could we be taking the first steps towards a bold new vision for school? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

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Follow us at: LinkedIn, Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow 

Today on AOTA Shorts: You’ve probably thought about the consequences of AI in school -- cheating, making us dumber, rampant and undetectable plagiarism, making learning obsolete -- and if you’re on top of it, you’ve probably also thought about the devastating climate and ecological impacts on school communities. But a recent article explores a new facet of the challenges with AI, the deep erosion of trust between students and teachers. Presumptions of guilt and big brother academic policing techniques are just the beginning. AI is perhaps the largest scale social experiment we’ve ever conducted on the human population, and it’s happening in real time, with no meaningful safeguards, transparency, or regulation. And it’s not going well so far. Manuel and Jeff discuss!

Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AOTA  

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Follow us at: Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow, LinkedIn

Today on AOTA Shorts: We’ve talked a lot about the potential costs to school systems (and taxpayers, of course) for the madness of book bans and laws allowing the challenging of “woke” content in schools. But a story out of a small district in Colorado offers, perhaps, new hope in the equation. Give em a dose of their own medicine. Elizabeth School District is facing a lawsuit from the ALCU and families challenging their ban on books featuring LGBTQ characters and written by authors of color. As the insanity of anti-wokeness continues to plague the nation, the pathway to bury these districts and officials in lawsuits, legal fees, and paperwork grows, if unintentionally. You want to violate the first amendment, academic freedom, and engage in unconstitutional censorship? OK, we’ll see you in court. Manuel and Jeff discuss!

Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

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Follow us at: Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow, LinkedIn

Today on AOTA Shorts: They said they were going to do it before the election. They began the process of death by 1000 cuts (or a few dozen cuts as it may be) in week one when they took office. And now that the government shutdown continues, the clearly unconstitutional goal of ending the US Department of Education has been made this week, with Trump and Linda McMahon laying off nearly every worker in the USDOE Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. But, as with all things fascist and unconstitutional coming out of this administration, the federal employees labor union sued, and a judge has temporarily halted the administration's ability to proceed with these, and many other cuts to federal agencies. Will the ruling hold? Will the Trump administration abide by the court’s ruling at all? We shall see. Manuel and Jeff discuss!

Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AOTA  

Watch at: YouTube.com/AlloftheAbove

Follow us at: Facebook.com/AOTAshow, Twitter.com/AOTAshow, LinkedIn