Have You Heard

Schools are in for more chaos and conflict, whatever specific policies are enacted by a second Trump Administration. We talk to two scholars about just how much the politics of disruption are costing, in terms of the material costs to school district budgets and the erosion of community trust. The research of Rachel White, co-author of a new study, “The Cost of Conflict,” and Rebecca Jacobsen, co-author of the forthcoming “The Politics of Disruption” is a timely reminder that the consequences of our school wars are all too real.

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Massachusetts voters will soon weigh in on whether to abandon the state’s de facto high school exit exam. That prospect has pitted elected officials and business leaders against teachers and their union, as well as a majority of voters, who’ve grown weary of schools’ focus on standardized testing. But the contentious debate also reflects a deep (and old) divide over the purpose of high school. We’re joined by education historian David Labaree who argues that high schools are not equipped (and never have been) to prepare students for the jobs of the future, and that policymakers and business leaders who insist on that goal have ended up dramatically narrowing the purpose of school.

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As long as we’ve had public schools, we’ve had ‘edu-grifters,’ slick salesmen armed with promises to provide education on the cheap. In this episode, we meet one of the OG edu-grifters, one Joseph Lancaster, who arrived on these shores in the 1820’s with an irresistible sales pitch: schools that were basically free because, wait for it, the kids taught themselves. Adam Laats, author of the amazing new book, Mr. Lancaster’s System, joins us to talk about the American addiction to education ‘silver bullets,’ the age-old resistance to investing in other people’s kids, and why the vision of school privatization on offer from Betsy DeVos failed the first time around.

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We head to Fort Collins, CO where a plan to shutter multiple schools and “rightsize” the school district ran into a wall of community opposition. A feel-good tale for our feel-bad times, Fort Collins’ example signals, not just resistance to school closures, but to the larger vision of school choice and competition that pits parents against one another, deepening disparities in the process.

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When Courtney Gore ran for school board in a deep red Texas county, she pledged to root out indoctrination. But once she got into office, Gore could find no evidence of indoctrination happening in the local schools. She has since disavowed the far-right platform she ran on and now argues that the school culture wars are being ginned up in order to build support for private school vouchers–and a growing number of local Republicans agree with her. Education journalist Karin Chenoweth interviewed Gore on her podcast, Democracy and Education, and gave us permission to share their conversation on Have You Heard.

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From the end of federal COVID relief money to declining enrollment, school districts are in a world of hurt right now. But while the causes for the rising tide of red ink are complex, the recommendations from school finance experts are always the same: cut, fire and close. Our guest, school district finance whisperer David Backer, takes serious issue with these supposed solutions and wants to arm teachers and public school advocates with the tools and knowledge necessary to fight back.

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This is a special episode of Have You Heard, and not just because co-host Jack Schneider is MIA. We’re paying tribute to Jennifer’s dad, Tom Berkshire, a tireless advocate for kids and for fixing the nation’s broken foster care system. We’re headed to a magical community in western Massachusetts called Treehouse that surrounds foster kids and their adoptive families with love while providing senior citizens with affordable housing. In other words, this is a feel good episode at a time when we could all use a little uplift. Special guest: journalist and educator Nora De La Cour.

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To celebrate the release of The Education Wars, we’ve gathered a cast of thousands to help bring the book to life. Our special guests help us understand what’s driving the intense push to privatize schools, what we’ll lose when public schools are gone, and how we can fight to protect and transform public education in this country. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be inspired, you’ll want to buy the book–and then give it away. Special guests include Erik Anderson, Noliwe Rooks, Derek Gottlieb, Jess Piper, Heather DuBois Bourenane, Letha Muhammed, Nora Flanagan and Johann Neem.

Our new book, The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, is now out! You can buy it wherever you buy books.

The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon:

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Students who lived through court-ordered desegregation in the South grew up to become less conservative, more tolerant adults. That’s the finding of provocative research from education scholar Mark Chin, who compared students who attended integrated schools with their peers in the same county who didn’t. Mark says his research is a reminder to academics to think bigger than test scores when looking at the impact of education policy. But it also provides us with essential context for understanding today’s wave of school privatization in the South: an effort to produce kids who will be more conservative and less tolerant as adults.

Our new book, The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, will be out on July 2. You can pre-order it here: https://www.educationwarsbook.com/order

The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon:

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Raise your hand if you think that all of the partisan rancor over public education is bad for kids? That’s the premise of Braver Angels, a citizen’s group that aims to make America less crazy by getting people talking more and hating each other less. Co-founder Bill Doherty joins us to talk about why our debates over education are so pitched and polarized and what we can do about it. And Jack reminds us that even highly technocratic policy issues can become supercharged in an age of distrust and division.

Our new book, The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, will be out on July 2. You can pre-order it here: https://www.educationwarsbook.com/order

The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast