If you listen to national anti-reform activists you might assume that all education workers that came to rebuild public education in New Orleans were opportunistic carpet baggers seizing on a profitable opportunity. That is an unfortunate narrative that insults the hard work done by earnest people who came to New Orleans like many Americans, to help. Pete Cook is one of those people. He moved to New Orleans in 2002 (before the devastation of Katrina) to teach at John McDonough High School when it was deeply troubled. We talk to him about the educational triage work he did with other education workers after Katrina. Pete in addition to teaching in New Orleans before Katrina, he also worked for KIPP New Orleans, the Recovery School District, and Mass Insight.

For the month of July Rock The Schools is recording in New Orleans as part of a future series on the anniversary of post-Katrina school reform. We will speak with parents, educators, and community members about the challenges and successes that have come from rebirth of public education in a city that has a long history of racial caste and a three-tiered system of education. On this episode: School reform in New Orleans is a national story that is often called miraculous by education leaders, but local parents often tell a more mixed story. Our guest Ashana Bigard is one of those parents. She has helped parents navigate NOLA schools and has seen first had the struggles they have had to get the best education for their kids (even after reform). We talk to her as a critical friend, to hear what education reformers should know about the parent perspective. Ashana has been featured on the Edushyster blog and in The Atlantic.

Whether we call it "reform" or not, the effort to improve school isn't solely about fixing public education. It is about discovering new ways to inspire learning, and building better schools. Many good people have invested countless hours in pursuit of education that works for kids. Some have failed, some have succeeded, but few tell their stories. We speak with Gregory Gentle, a long time educator, about his work to start a new school.

Liberals and progressives have traditionally been counted as allies in the struggle of marginalized communities to gain education. Even so, our friends on the left have become the biggest barriers to education reforms that would open up educational options for black people. Is it time to call the question: "are leftist educational politics at odds with our goal of black liberation through education?"

Your perspective on education activism changes when you become a leader within a school district after being an activist. Alberto Monseratte shares his journey as an education reformer, activist, and the first Latino board of education member in Minneapolis.

Nekima Levy-Pounds was recently elected as the president of Minneapolis' NAACP. A fierce advocate for justice, and a supportive critic of school reform, she embodies a hopeful "third way" approach to education activism. We talk to her about how focus on schools fit into a broader justice agenda, and how her leadership will differ from other emerging leaders.

Earlier this year the school reform outfit Better Ed had a dust up with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, which exposed how disconnected some forms of school reform are from the communities they want to help. I speak with Devin Foley about this and the strange politics of education reform.

We will discuss the need for school reform efforts to be led by the parents and students who are most affected, and the challenges developing parent power in the movement.

Rock The Schools with Citizen Stewart - A Contract for Student Achievement, featuring special guests Lynne Mickelson And MinnPost's Beth Hawkins. We will discuss how mysterious the process of negotiating between teachers and school districts has been, and what it looks like when citizens and media get inside.

Caging the black mind, with guest Educator and 2006 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Lee-Ann Stephens