Have You Heard

Students flailing without real teachers. Sky-high dropout rates. Aggressive sales pitches. Sound familiar? Have You Heard revisits America’s first great love affair with distance learning, the learn-by-mail craze that swept the nation 100+ years ago. The case for distance learning made by the original (for profit) edu-preneurs was virtually identical to what we’re hearing today. Special guests: education historian Bob Hampel and “Young Jack.” The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

A looming budget calamity worse than the Great Recession could mean mass teacher layoffs and deep cuts to school spending. Have You Heard previews the bleak budget forecast, how it can be averted, and why the GOP seems intent on forcing states to go broke. Experts Bruce Baker, Sarah Reckhow and Jesse Rothstein weigh in. And in a sign of what’s to come, we meet a teacher whose alternative school is going online and for-profit next year. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast.

Have You Heard digs into the recent - and surprising - decision by a federal court declaring that there is in fact a constitutional right to education. One catch: the court defined that right very narrowly, as a “basic minimum education.” Jennifer and Jack explore the ruling and its implications with the help of an all star cast, including Noliwe Rooks, author of Cutting School; Michael Rebell, executive director of the Center for Educational Equity; and former Detroit teacher Stephanie Griffin. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast.

The gaps between the Internet haves and have-nots have never been more glaring. Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance helps us understand the origins of our digital divide and how to get to a system of high quality affordable internet for all. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast.

Have You Heard opens the proverbial phone lines to hear what listeners want to know about education in a time of pandemic. And an all-star cast of experts steps up to provide the answers. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

This isn't the first time schools have shuttered in response to a pandemic. Resident education historian Jack Schneider on what we can learn from school closures past. Meanwhile, the absence of schools seems to have awakened even their critics to how key they are. And what of the future? Resident paranoid Jennifer Berkshire says it's never too soon to start fretting over whether schools will ever reopen - especially in states where pols have been feverishly focused on dismantling them. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

Blaming teachers for the woes of US public schools and beyond is as old a pastime as public education itself. Historian Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz takes us through 100 years of teacher blaming and the love-hate relationship the US has with its teachers. You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll want to pre-order her book, Blaming Teachers. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

Have You Heard heads to fast-growing north Texas to listen in on how support for public education is upending the state's politics. Part of our series on education and politics in 2020, this episode captures a trend with major implications for Texas and beyond. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going and enables us to hit the road. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

The raging debate about whether public money should fund private religious education is a very old one. What's new is the increasingly complex education landscape and the mainstreaming of once radical free market ideas. Education historian Ethan Hutt makes it all make sense. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

What are students learning about American history in these hyper-polarized times? That’s what New York Times reporter Dana Goldstein wanted to know. And so she set off on an epic reading adventure: 43 middle and high school American history textbooks, 4,800 pages in all. Have You Heard talks to Dana about how our divided nation shows up on the pages of these books on subjects such as immigration, the economy and suburbanization. Also, Jack revisits the great debate in the 1990’s over history standards. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Please donate at Patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast