Have You Heard

The push to "personalize" education is on, with more Silicon Valley disrupters jumping into the big money fray every week. But as Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider discuss with guest Bill Fitzgerald, the search for a technological cure for what ails our public schools goes way back. And by failing to heed the past, the new breed of disrupters--Mark Zuckerberg, Reed Hastings, et al--are poised to repeat it.

How did school boards became the must-have accessory of wealthy donors? Scholar Rebecca Jacobsen walks us through who and what is behind this big money trend. And by "big," we mean REALLY BIG. The recent school board election in Los Angeles was the most expensive in history, totaling some $17 million, much of it via untraceable "dark money" donations.

Did you hear the one about how charter schools were the brainchild of Albert Shanker, the legendary teachers union head? Writer Rachel Cohen did, but when she began tracing the tale back to its origins, she found that the real "father" of charter schools looks a lot like their biggest fans today: market-oriented reformers who aren't crazy about public institutions or labor unions.

A big new study finds having just one Black teacher makes it far more likely that Black students will remain in school. But there’s a problem. The percentage of Black teachers, particularly in urban areas, has been sinking like a stone. Guest Terrenda White explains the role that education reform has played in reducing the number of Black teachers, and why recruiting Black students to be future teachers is such a challenge when school can feel a lot like jail.

School marketing is a fast growing - and completely unregulated - byproduct of the education marketplace. Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire explore the world of "edvertising" with researcher Sarah Butler Jessen. To market, to market!

Tax credit scholarships are a complex, controversial way of sending taxpayer dollars to private religious schools, allowing wealthy donors and corporations to reap huge windfalls in the process. Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire explore the the origins of the wall between public money and private schools that these “neo vouchers” are intended to circumvent. They're joined by tax policy expert Carl Davis who They’re joined by tax policy expert Carl Davis who explains that tax credit scholarships have more in common with money laundering than with charitable giving.

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider talk to Tressie McMillan Cottom about the rise of for-profit colleges, and *risky* higher ed that saddles low-income students with debt and questionable credentials. And we discuss the growing push to make K-12 similarly risky. Cottom is the author of Lower Ed and her sharp, insightful take on why markets and schooling don't match is a must hear.

Have You Heard heads to Detroit to hear from parents about how they're faring in the city's "education marketplace." We listen in as they describe neighborhoods that have become school deserts, and the chaos of dealing with schools that suddenly close their doors.

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider talk to Michelle Rhee about the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers, whether the policies she's pushed for have led to teacher shortages, and what's next for the education reform movement in these Trumpian times.

The idea that schools can be fixed by firing teachers has become a fixation. Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider look at where the idea comes from and hear from three Boston teachers whose schools are about to be turned upside down. As scholar Tina Trujillo explains, the turn-and-churn model of school reform reflects a larger erosion of the idea that public education is public good.