Have You Heard

The movement of students and parents to end harsh discipline and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in their local schools made major gains. Then came the pandemic. Now, with calls for returning police to schools and “hardening” them in response to shooting threats, the movement’s success may be in jeopardy. Special guests: Mark Warren, author of Willful Defiance, and Jonathan Stith, the national director of the Alliance for Educational Justice.

Long before Moms for Liberty or Parents Defending Education, conservative mothers in the 1950's led a crusade to free the schools from communism. These activists waged fierce battles to resist the red menace, which they saw everywhere, including in the emerging field of mental health and in "progressive education"--any effort made to influence the way that children thought. Special guest: Michelle Nickerson, authors of Mothers of Conservatism: Women and the Postwar Right. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast or donate on PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/haveyouheardpodcast

The attachment of rural communities to their local schools is intense. But that commitment may be fraying in a time of culture war, education populism and teacher shortages. Have You Heard visits western Kansas where rural school advocates are passionate about their local schools even as they fear for their future. Special guests: Matthew Clay, Krysten Clay, Stephanie Wick and Scott Gregory. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast or donate on PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/haveyouheardpodcast

Beth Popp Berman, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan and author of "Thinking Like an Economist," discusses the rise of economic reasoning in U.S. public policy since the 1960s. She delves into how concepts like competition and efficiency have reshaped the Democratic party’s approach to inequality and education. Berman contrasts the rigid economic framework of Democrats with the Republicans' flexibility, highlighting the implications on education policy and community engagement.

Have You Heard heads to Croydon, New Hampshire to listen in on an epic battle playing out over the future of public education in the state. In March, members of the Free State Project, a libertarian movement that wields increasing influence in the state, voted to slash the local school budget by half. Under the plan, Croydon’s one-room schoolhouse would be converted into a for-profit microschool with students learning online under the supervision of an unlicensed guide, and parents would foot the bill for tuition at local schools that exceeded the new budget constraints. But a funny thing happened on the way to phasing out public education in this small NH town. The residents of Croydon revolted, restoring faith in local democracy in the process. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast or donate on PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/haveyouheardpodcast

Jennifer and Jack are joined by journalist Kathryn Joyce to discuss the right’s newfound fondness for an old cause: classical education. Today’s version comes in a new form–publicly funded classical charter schools–and has a decidedly conservative cast. Joyce, an investigative reporter for Salon, argues that the growing push for schools that teach conservative values must be understood as part of the right’s new-found fondness for using state power to enforce religious morality. Recommended reading Kathryn Joyce, “Salon investigates: The war on public schools is being fought from Hillsdale College,” https://www.salon.com/2022/03/16/salon-investigates-the-on-public-schools-is-being-fought-from-hillsdale-college/ The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast or donate on PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/haveyouheardpodcast

We’re headed back to the Clinton-era to understand the origins of the Democrats’ fondness for market-based solutions to social and economic problems. We’re joined by historian Lily Geismer, author of the new book Left Behind: The Democrats' Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality. Geismer tells the story of how Clinton and other “new” Democrats moved away from using government and economic redistribution to address poverty and inequality. Instead, they embraced market-based solutions, like microfinance and charter schools. Fast forward forty years and inequality now threatens the social fabric, while the Democrats decision to distance themselves from organized labor seems increasingly misguided. And in our In the Weeds segment for Patreon subscribers, Jack and Jennifer dig into the repeated claims that angry parents will power the GOP into a midterm route. Subscribe on Patreon to listen in. https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

What should schools do about climate change? To get some perspective on this big, even existential, question, Have You Heard is joined summons an all-star cast. Oren Pizmony-Levy, the director of the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University, breaks down the big debates regarding schools and climate change. Investigative journalist Katie Worth, author of Miseducation, reports from her deep dive into climate change education around the country. And Elissa Levy, who teaches physics and computer science at the High School for Climate Justice in East Harlem, NY, tells us about the first public school in the nation with “climate” in its name. And in our In the Weeds segment for Patreon subscribers, Jack and Jennifer wonder ‘what ever happened to the opt-out movement?’ For access, reading lists and more, go to Patreon.com/haveyouheardpodcast to become a supporter.

When Jeff Sharlet reviewed Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law, it felt a bit too familiar. That's because Sharlet spent years reporting on the anti-LGBTQ crusade in Putin's Russia. The Florida law, along with a wave of anti-trans legislation across the country, seeks to create what Sharlet describes as an "enemy within." And in our In the Weeds segment for Patreon subscribers, Jack and Jennifer dig into the question of whether teachers are or are not fleeing the profession, and why the data may not matter as much as the pundits keep saying. Subscribe on Patreon to listen in. https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast

Thirty years into the great charter experiment, the question of just how public these schools are remains unresolved. We’re joined by Wagma Mommandi and Kevin Welner, author of a new book on how charter schools control access and shape enrollment. Mommandi, a former Washington DC public school teacher, and Welner, who directs the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, make the case that charter advocates and policy makers have consistently tilted the rules that govern charter schools towards privateness. That has major implications for equity as we move towards a system where schools choose students. And in our In the Weeds segment for Patreon subscribers, we discuss a hot new charter school trend and a very old cause: patriotic education and the dream of reengineering youngsters to be little conservatives. Subscribe on Patreon to join the fun. https://www.patreon.com/HaveYouHeardPodcast