Have You Heard

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#24 Schools Can't Fix Poverty (So Why do We Keep Insisting They Can?) Aug 29, 2017

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Have You Heard talks to historian Harvey Kantor about how education came to be seen as THE fix for poverty. Hint: it all starts in the 1960’s with the advent of the Great Society programs. Fast forward to the present and our belief that education can reduce poverty and narrow the nation’s yawning inequality chasm is stronger than ever. And yet education, argues Kantor, is actually exacerbating income inequality.

#23: The Mismeasure of Schools: Data, Real Estate and Segregation Aug 14, 2017

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In this episode, Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider discuss how test scores and other current metrics distort our picture of school quality, often fostering segregation in the process. What would a better set of measures include? Our intrepid hosts venture inside an urban elementary school to find out.

#22: The Long Crusade Against Public Schools: A Conversation with Nancy MacLean Jul 31, 2017

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Jennifer Berkshire talks to Nancy MacLean, author of the best selling Democracy in Chains, about the Right's long crusade against what they call "government schools."

#21: 'I Quit' - Teachers Are Leaving and They Want to Tell You Why Jul 11, 2017

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In this episode of Have You Heard, we hear from teachers who left their jobs - and wanted to tell the world why. They left "kicking and screaming" as Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Shawn Sheehan explains. These very public resignations are a form of activism, a way for teachers to articulate how and why teaching needs to change.

#20: Putting the 'i' in School: Personalized Learning and the Disruption of Public Education Jun 24, 2017

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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.

#19: Buying Influence: Big Money and School Board Elections Jun 06, 2017

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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.

#18 DNA Test: the Ancestry of Charter Schools May 23, 2017

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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.

#17: Where Have All the Black Teachers Gone? May 05, 2017

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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.

#16: Truth in Edvertising Apr 19, 2017

Show notes

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!

#15: Tax Credit Scholarships: A Laundromat for Tax Dollars Apr 04, 2017

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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.

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