Have You Heard

The Democratic Party seems to be backing away from its decades-long embrace of charter schools. While pundits cite the influence of teachers unions within the party, our guest Jon Valant says more complicated forces are at play, starting with the unraveling of the unlikely liberal/conservative coalition that brought charters into being. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcas...

Central Harlem in the late 1960's was home to a radical, and little known, experiment in alternative education. Historian Barry Goldenberg, runner up in the Have You Heard Graduate Student Research Contest, tells us the story of Harlem Prep and why it is so relevant today.

We talk with Christopher Leonard, author of the new bestseller Kochland, about the Koch family's vision for public education. (Hint: it doesn't involve the word 'public'...)

Theater teacher Quinn Strassel has seen first hand the impact that Betsy DeVos has had on Michigan’s public schools. And so he decided to fight back—by writing a musical.

School can be a tough, even traumatic place for students and teachers alike. Four teachers tell Have You Heard what they're doing to change that.

We delve into a charter school scam so enormous, so audacious that it requires charts and graphs to explain. Special guest: Voice of San Diego’s Will Huntsberry.

Economist Marshall Steinbaum talks free college, human capital theory, educationism and why it’s time to disrupt the individualized logic of higher education.

What happens when charter schools with progressive missions encounter an education marketplace where test scores and competition reign supreme? Elise Castillo, the winner of the first-ever Have You Heard graduate student research contest, breaks it down for us.

Have You Heard heads to Michigan to learn about a lesser-known part of the state’s free market education experiment: inter-district school choice. More than 100,000 Michigan students attend school in a district other than where they live. The outflow of students has pushed urban districts to the brink and spawned a competition for enrollment among rural and suburban districts.

White residents are moving into city neighborhoods they’ve long stayed away from. They’re arrival is driving up housing costs and displacing the neighborhoods’ previous residents. But what does it mean for urban schools? Have You Heard talks to Yawu Miller, senior editor of Boston’s African American newspaper, the Bay State Banner.

All of those Democratic presidential candidates keep talking about education. But why? Have You Heard goes beyond the headlines to explore why public education may just turn out to be this (endless) campaign season's hottest button issue.

High-end for-profit private schools are a growing segment of the education ‘marketplace.’ Mike Levy, a long-time teacher at Avenues World School in NYC, takes us behind the scenes of a growing network of schools for the global .01% where $60,000 in tuition also buys a healthy dose of free-market ideology.

No excuses-style charter schools, known for rigid discipline and a college prep focus have seen explosive growth in urban areas over the past decade. But do parents really want strict discipline for their kids? Researchers Mira Debs and Joanne Golann talked to parents at two very different kinds of schools: urban no excuses charters and public Montessori and what they found will surprise you.

Deep spending cuts and ballooning class sizes are coming to Ontario. Have You Heard talks to parents, students and teachers in Toronto about what controversial changes proposed by the new conservative government will mean for a public education system success story. Hint: nothing good...

Arizona is home to some of the most outrageous charter school shenanigans in the country. Have You Heard talks to award-winning reporter Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic about why his state's charter experiment seems to have gone off the rails.

The Atlanta school cheating scandal saw 11 Black educators convicted of racketeering. Shani Robinson was one of them. She joins Have You Heard to talk about the untold story behind the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.

There's big money lining up to bring the portfolio model to a school district near you. But what is it exactly? Scholar Katrina Bulkley helps Have You Heard plumb the depths of portfolio management.

As states disinvest from public higher education, universities are increasingly turning to corporate sponsors. Joshua Hunt, author of University of Nike, joins us to talk about who pays when corporate donors are footing the bill.

What does the LA teacher strike mean for the future of education reform?

Five (make that six) education news stories that deserved more attention in 2018.

The smartest book Have You Heard has encountered on the limits of school reform in ages is a novel. Roxanna Elden's hilarious and pointed Adequate Yearly Progress is packed with real insights into what self-styled education reformers miss about the complex ecosystems of schools, and the complicated lives of teachers. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll buy the book!

Can listening to When I'm 64 make you younger (or smarter)? Have You Heard looks at the replication crisis in the social sciences and why education research is particularly susceptible to the problem of illusory results. Special guest: Hunter Gehlbach

Boston recently announced plans to begin rebuilding its schools. But in a fast-gentrifying city, who will these new schools be for? Jennifer travels to a school on the chopping block: McCormack Middle School in Dorchester to talk to teachers and students who are fighting to keep their school community together.

Have You Heard digs up the original "zombie" issue in education: schools of education and their [insert criticism here]. Jack and Jennifer are joined by education historian Lauren Lefty to explore why this particular zombie can never be slayed.

Teachers are running for office this year in unprecedented numbers. Have You Heard talks to some of them and looks at why this educator-turned-candidate phenomenon represents a unique phenomenon. Hint: it's not just teachers who are on the ballot but the future of public education.