Weekend greetings, CharterFolk.
Hoping to catch you at a moment when you might have time to enjoy a chat, Andy and I are happy to share our latest WonkyFolk discussion …
… which we recorded live in DC this week.
Here is a link to the podcast and to a transcript of the discussion.
You can also access the conversation here on YouTube.
We covered a lot of ground in our hour together, including:
- How CharterFolk and broader reformers should orient ourselves to the torrent of new edicts coming out of DC in the early months of the Trump Administration;
- Discussion of the broader de-coupling of red and blue policy makers on the use of federal resources for public education;
- The risks that charter schools face in the upcoming religious charter schools case before the Supreme Court; and
- Answers to several questions that came from audience members.
During the discussion, we referenced Greg Richmond’s recent CharterFolk Column about the Supreme Court case, as well as a piece by Andy Smarick arguing in favor of the concept of religious charter schools. We also touched upon the risk charter schools face if “private activity bonds” lose their tax exemption, a topic Eugene Clark-Herrera wrote about this week.
At one point in the conversation, I suggested that reformers wanting to not get crosswise with policy makers objecting to various terms might forego using the terms “equity” and “excellence” …
… to describe what we seek in public education, and to begin using “fabulous” and “fair.”
Here’s the post from last summer wherein I first made the suggestion.
It’s a crazy policy environment we inhabit these days, CharterFolk, one that, on the one hand, seems to require new levels of sobriety, and on the other, calls for strong whiskey. Whichever you prefer, I hope you find a few minutes to take in the conversation. I certainly enjoyed it a great deal.