Head of the Class

In this episode, Kristi and Christina talk about the “parents' rights politicians” who ran on and continue to yell about so-called "parents' rights", but who, ironically, are ignoring actual parents and making it harder to meaningfully participate in the public school system.  Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text OURSCH...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina cover legislative action in the Tennessee State Legislature, ranging from school vouchers, arming school teachers, the forced outing of students, and, in one of the more unique circumstances that we have encountered, a soon-to-be required anti-abortion video, now known as the "Baby Olivia" video (spoiler alert: it's not medically accurate).  W...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina discuss the bullying and harassing tactics employed by extremists that have entered the public school advocacy space, ranging from in-person harassment at board meetings, online harassment on social media, and using legal threats as a means to stop parents and community members from speaking out. TLDR: Ignore the haters, and don't let them break your stri...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina attempt, in rapid succession, to cover the extreme culture war and anti-public education laws and policies introduced or being enacted in nearly thirty U.S. states.  While it is easy to think it's not happening near you, the Our Schools crew just scratches the surface with the nationwide attack on public school classrooms, curriculum, the targeting of s...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina explore the hostile working conditions that far-right extremist politicians and school board members have created for public school employees, from passing laws that create civil and criminal penalties for classroom teachers to the firing of beloved school district leaders.  The TDLR is that they are driving great educators and administrators from schools, d...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina break down Christian Nationalism, discussing concrete examples  of specific strategies and instances as to how it is impacting and influencing the leadership and policymaking in our nation's public schools.  Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text OURSCHOOLSUSA at (855) 575-7888 or visit ourschoolsus...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina discuss outcomes from the bottom of the ballot to the top from Super Tuesday. Now that the field has closed in the race for The White House, this episode digs into the far-right communication strategies and policies that we are going to see pushed leading up to November. Check out the video version on YouTube . Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram (...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina discuss the increased rise in aggression and violence in and around our nation's public schools, using a recent video of a candidate for Missouri Secretary of State using a flamethrower to burn books as a catalyst for this first of many conversations on this topic.   Check out the video version on YouTube . Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram (...

From Wired   to political publications, we keep seeing headlines that all angle at one theme: Moms for Liberty is dead, shrinking, or being reduced to shambles. In this episode, Kristi and Christina are here to tell you that this is not the case, and, even if they did disappear tomorrow, there are plenty of groups doing similar work, and their funders will create a new incarnation of the group to...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina have a conversation with Brittney Mast of Moms for Oregon ( @momsfororegon ) about the misperceptions that blue states do not have "red" problems with the far-right extremist attacks on local public schools. Check out the video version on YouTube . Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text OURSCHO...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina have a conversation with Kat Vargas of Howdy Politics ( @howdypolitics ) about the voucher fight in Texas, the school board agitators turned border agitators, and the influence of Texas public education policy on the nation. Check out the video version on YouTube . Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina discuss a The Washington Post piece, "How did this charter school get a nearly $2 million federal grant?," which uncovers that a Hillsdale College-affiliated school (yes, the Hillsdale College that repeatedly claims that they rebuff federal money) misrepresented itself for a large federal grant meant to serve economically disadvantaged students. Th...

Welcome to Season 2! In this episode, Kristi & Christina interview one another to identify what trends will emerge in the fight against the far-right extremist organization's attempts to undermine public education.  TLDR: 2024 is gonna be wild. Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text OURSCHOOLSUSA at (855) 575-7888 or visit ourschool...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina continue to dig into Project 2025, an initiative coordinated by The Heritage Foundation, specifically focusing on proposals that would dismantle the federal Department of Education as we know it. School privatization is the topic of conversation, and the far-right wants to not only take taxpayer dollars away from public schools, but, ultimately, not fund edu...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina continue to dig into Project 2025, an initiative coordinated by The Heritage Foundation, specifically focusing on proposals that would dismantle the federal Department of Education as we know it. The far-right has created this anti-teacher union narrative, reflected in Project 2025. They have further tried to create this contentious dichotomy of teachers ver...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina attempt to compress four years of far-right extremism in public schools into an under one-hour podcast. If this is all new to you, this is a great place to start. For those of you who are in the thick of it, a good reminder and primer on what has happened and what to look for in 2024. Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina are joined by Lance Preston, Executive Director of Rainbow Youth Project USA, to discuss the impacts on students and their families from the rash of “forced outing” policies pushed by far-right extremists at school boards across California and across the country. These policies attack some of our most vulnerable students, and they need and continue to need i...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina dig into Project 2025, an initiative coordinated by The Heritage Foundation, specifically focusing on proposals that would dismantle the federal Department of Education as we know it.  Far-right extremists want rollback civil rights protections that were put in place by the Biden Administration, taking away protections put in place to shield some of the most...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina dig into Project 2025, an initiative coordinated by The Heritage Foundation, specifically focusing on proposals that would dismantle the federal Department of Education as we know it.  In the media, and supported by this document, far-right extremists have the federal free lunch program (as well as the state-level universal free lunch programs) in their cros...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina dig into Project 2025, an initiative coordinated by The Heritage Foundation, specifically focusing on proposals that would dismantle the federal Department of Education as we know it.  And no, we are not exaggerating. The first line of the first paragraph of the Education chapter reads, "Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the fe...

In this episode, Kristi & Christina discuss a tale of feigned addiction, a public relations stunt, and far-right grift, all at a local Texas school board meeting. You may have seen a social media post circulating about a woman speaking at a Texas school board meeting in support of banning the book "Drama,"  saying that she developed an addiction to pornography after she read the book...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina are joined by the Our Schools Lehigh County chapter lead Stefanie Rafes ( @ourschools_lehighcounty ) to discuss how a bipartisan coalition of parents and community members kept extremism out of three local school districts, where 15 of 15 candidates supported by the Our Schools Leigh County chapter won their school board races. Key lessons and insights for org...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina embark on Part III of their three-part series on book bans and associated strategies, addressing the messaging and tactics, both preemptive and reactive, to fight back against these book bans and book ban-adjacent strategies. Visit us at ourschoolsusa.org or on Instagram ( @ourschoolsusa ). Support Our Schools USA. Text OURSCHOOLSUSA at (855) 575-7888 or visit...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina embark on Part II of their three-part series on book bans and associated strategies, addressing the astroturf groups and websites who are pushing this agenda, by taking a specific focus on a few of the newer groups who have effectuated these bans.  The newest round of bans are not being propelled in a “one-off” fashion - i.e., a concerned parent or family memb...

In this episode, Kristi and Christina kick off a three-part series on book bans and associated strategies with Part I: Defining Book Bans, since some of the policy adoption and tactics being used by the far-right are not necessarily obvious rote book bans, for example, banning a literal book from a public school library. While the late 70’s and early 80’s saw their share of “content” hysteria, wha...