My recent podcasts on school choice, curriculum transparency and organizing parents
And an invitation to a live event, tomorrow March 30th in Northern Virginia
My wife informed me that I have to do a better job of self promotion, something at which I am not so good. But alas, my wife is right. So to that end, I’d like to bring your attention to my last few podcast episodes. We’ve had some terrific guests on Take Back Our Schools to talk about the problems with our country’s education system and potential solutions for how to fix them.
Please have a listen and let me know what you think. The podcast is also available on all major podcast outlets, including Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher. I hope you enjoy them.
I also want to invite you to a live event happening tomorrow, March 30th, in Northern Virginia where I will be hosting a live taping of the podcast with guests Scott Walker and Asra Nomani. More details are below.
Fund Students, Not Systems
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, I welcome Corey DeAngelis to talk about educational freedom and school choice. Corey is the national director of research at the American Federation for Children, the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a senior fellow at Reason Foundation.
Corey and I talk about legislation being pursued in many states to give parents choice in their children’s education by funding students rather than public schools. Corey gives advice on how to counter the teachers unions objections to school choice issues and shares his views on what parents can do to join the growing movement to break the public school monopoly.
Curriculum Transparency Legislation
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, I speak with Matt Beienburg. Matt is the Director of the Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy and Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute and is widely published on issues of educational freedom, parental rights, and greater civic appreciation of America’s founding principles.
Matt shares his views on the politicization of America’s public schools, critical race theory, and the genesis of curriculum transparency legislation, which Matt helped draft. We discuss the key features of this legislation and learn how it will help parents understand what is being taught in their children’s schools. We also talk about the intense pushback from the national teachers unions on this issue.
The Glass is Half Full
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, I speaks with parent advocate Beth Feeley. Beth is a free-lance writer and editor for various non-profit organizations and specializes in issues related to school curriculum transparency and balance. She also serves as an advisor to the Woodson Center, a neighborhood empowerment organization based in DC, where she helped launch its 1776 Unites effort. At a local level, Beth oversees a civic organization called New Trier Neighbors, located in the north suburbs of Chicago where she lives with her family, whose purpose is to educate fellow citizens on issues related to schools and local government so they are empowered to speak up.
We discuss Beth’s journey from concerned parent in suburban Chicago to founding New Trier Neighbors, one of the largest and most active local parent groups in the country. Beth shares her views on the state of public school education and how the parent movement has changed in the five years she has been involved in her local school district. Beth also gives her advice to other parents fighting against identity-based indoctrination and for curriculum transparency and balance.
You are Invited to a Live Podcast Recording in Reston, VA with guests Scott Walker and Asra Nomani
Tomorrow, March 30th, I will be doing a recording of the podcast in Reston, Virginia with a live audience. If you are in the Northern Virginia or Washington D.C. area I’d love to meet you. The event is sponsored by the National Journalism Center and the Ricochet Audio Network. The guests will be former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, and former Wall Street Journal reporter and parent activist extraordinaire Asra Nomani. We will discuss the parent-led battle to restore K-12 education.
Location: 11480 Commerce Park Drive, Reston, VA, 20191.
Time and date: Event registration starts at 10:30 a.m. ET March 30. The podcast, hosted on the Ricochet network, will record from 11 a.m. to noon ET. A light lunch will follow.
Registration: This promises to be a fascinating conversation, so if you can attend, register today! Please note that an RSVP is required to attend.
I hope you enjoy these episodes of Take Back Our Schools. As always, please share any ideas or suggestions, including for podcast guests. You can contact me through the website: speakupforeducation.org or email me at andrew@speakupforeducation.org. I am also on Twitter @AndrewGutmann.
Thank you for taking a stand. Reforming schools will take a lot of time and effort, but necessity drives innovation so alternative education platforms are popping up. Highly recommend Synthesis.is for kids aged 7-14!