Schooled

Schooled episodes:

• 06.27.2023

  No excuses

  In this episode, a look at how New Jersey responded to its own school funding lawsuit decades ago — and what Pennsylvania could learn. Then, a visit to the state capitol to see how legislators are responding to the recent...

  
• 06.20.2023

  Ring the bell

  Pennsylvania’s constitution says the legislature has to provide for a “thorough and efficient” system of schools. But what does that really mean?

  
• 06.13.2023

  A tale of two schools

  Two neighboring public high schools show the inequity of Pennsylvania’s school funding system. We learn about the forces at play and how a lack of resources affects everyday life for students and teachers. Then, we meet the people who have...

  
• 06.06.2023

  Season 6 Trailer: ‘Is this our moment?’

  Public education in America is still divided between the haves and have-nots, and the problem doesn’t get much worse than in Pennsylvania. But change could be coming.

  
• 07.07.2022

  From COVID to censorship: How a right-wing book ban took hold in Bucks County

  In exactly one year, a relatively large and diverse school district went from debating masks to targeting LGBTQ books. Here’s how it happened.

  
• 06.30.2022

  After the spotlight: How a book ban fight changed one Pa. community

  A book ban put the Central York School in the national spotlight. Meet the people who defeated it — and discover how it changed them.

  
• 06.23.2022

  Teaching on the brink: How it feels to be an educator on the verge of quitting

  There’s rising concern about the number of teachers who may leave the field. We asked them why. What they told us might surprise you.

  
• 06.16.2022

  Red tape: The untold stories of Philadelphia’s 1950s teacher purge

  New tapes shed light on an old story: the suspension of 32 Philly teachers during the 1950s. We explore what happened, and what it tells us about ourselves.

  
• 06.29.2021

  Prodigal son: The making of a Black male teacher

  School leaders across the U.S. are looking for the next Shakoor Henderson: a promising Black, male educator in a field that sorely lacks diversity. So why is he on the verge of being pushed out of public education after a long,...

  
• 06.28.2021

  Live: Lessons of the COVID school year

  COVID-19 upended the American education system and the impacts of the pandemic on schools will likely take decades to fully understand. There are big questions about learning loss. Attendance rates are down. Failure rates are up. And many students missed out...

  
• 03.18.2021

  School, shootings

  Dozens of school-aged children in Philadelphia were murdered since January 2020  — a spike that tracks with a surge in homicides in cities across the country. For loved ones, the pain of these losses has been exacerbated by the isolation of the...

  
• 06.25.2020

  The Class of 2020, ‘on hold’ and ‘on fire’

  The high school class of 2020 is bound for the history books. They were born in the wake of 9-11. Entered kindergarten during the Great Recession. Had their senior years interrupted by a global pandemic. And have now graduated into an...

  
• 08.28.2019

  S.03 Ep. 04 Summer in the City

  A portrait of summer at a recreation center in a Philadelphia neighborhood where the threat of violent crime is never far off. Starting on the last day of school, we meet students — many living in nearby public housing —...

  
• 08.21.2019

  S. 03 Ep. 03: Don’t eat the marshmallow

  KIPP Philadelphia started a middle school in 2003 that promised to change students’ lives.  It was one of the city’s first “no excuses” charter schools, where administrators implemented a militaristic discipline system and promoted a laser focus on college for...

  
• 08.14.2019

  S.03 Ep. 02 Last Chance High — part two

  We continue following Joshua Martinez and his classmates as they fight to graduate. But a teacher at El Centro raises serious questions about the rigor of the school that leads to bigger questions: For students who are far behind grade level,...

  
• 08.07.2019

  S. 03 Ep. 01: Last Chance High

  Joshua Martinez grew up in poverty in a neighborhood where selling drugs is a way of life. At 16, he quit school, but soon feared he had put himself on a dead-end path. Seeking a better life, he enrolled in...

  
• 07.31.2019

  Schooled: Season Three Trailer

  What does it really mean to get a good education? What is educational success? The third season of WHYY’s Schooled podcast explores these questions and more.

  
• 07.17.2019

  Special update: The story Jovan Weaver didn’t tell

  More than a year after releasing the second season of Schooled, we learn that Jovan Weaver has been carrying a dark secret. In late 2017, Jovan killed a man in a hit-and-run and then allegedly attempted to burn his car to...

  
• 04.25.2018

  S. 02 Ep. 01: You Shouldn’t Be Here

  As principal of Wister Elementary, Jovan Weaver knows well the trauma that many of his students experience. He grew up fatherless during Philadelphia’s crack epidemic in the 1980s and 90s, and was abandoned when he was 10 by his mother,...

  
• 04.25.2018

  S. 02 Ep. 02: Battle lines

  Becoming principal of Wister meant Jovan Weaver would be working under a microscope. The bitter debate that led to Wister’s conversion to a charter school raised questions of politics, access and influence. And it pitted Philadelphia neighbors against one another...

  
• 04.25.2018

  S. 02 Ep. 03: No excuses

  Jovan tries to find a balance between the high expectations, “no excuses” culture for which Mastery Charter is known and the “love and positivity” mission he envisions based on his own traumatic childhood. Along the way he faces tough decisions,...

  
• 04.25.2018

  S. 02 Ep. 04: What we went through

  Wister’s 5th grade students see themselves reflected in a faculty that has adopted a civil rights mission. Bahir Hayes and other teachers grapple with what it means and what it takes to make a successful school. And as the school...

  
• 04.20.2018

  Schooled: Season Two Trailer

  You Shouldn't Be Here: The story of Jovan Weaver and Wister Elementary

  
• 07.19.2017

  S. 01 Ep. 01: A Fighter Since Birth

  By seventh grade, Savannah was already in danger of becoming a casualty of the North Philly streets; she’s endured horrific childhood abuse, eventually becoming pregnant by age 14. But Savannah — motivated by her newborn daughter — sets out to...

  
• 07.19.2017

  S. 01 Ep. 03: Don’t Call it the Badlands

  Savannah’s attendance record holds her back at school, threatening her chances of graduating. A dedicated group of teachers, mentors, and peers help her see the good in her community, while tensions with her mother reach an apex. Listen above or...

  
• 07.19.2017

  S. 01 Ep. 02: Be Somebody

  Savannah enters high school eager to defy the odds. She’s determined not to follow the path of her mother, who dropped out of the very same North Philadelphia high school after becoming pregnant at age 16. To succeed, Savannah must...

  
• 07.18.2017

  Season One Trailer

  Don't Call it the Badlands: The Story of Savannah Zayas

  
• 06.30.2017

  Ep. 0: Trailer

  “Schooled” gives the insider’s story of America’s public schools, through the eyes of the students, parents and educators. Read more...

  
• 05.11.2017

  Ep. 0: Trailer

  “Schooled” gives the insider’s story of America’s public schools, through the eyes of the students, parents and educators. We begin with Savannah Zayas, a teen mother in a struggling North Philadelphia high school who’s determined to escape poverty. Season 1...