The State of Education with Melvin Adams

Has your child taken a survey in school that touched on inappropriate topics? Have they come across vulgar books in their school library? LGBTQ and Critical Race Theory talking points are everywhere in schools these days, even down to the earliest grades. That’s no secret. What is hidden from parents is that most of this teaching comes under the guise of Social Emotional Learning programs. In this...

Today is Noah Webster Educational Foundation’s second birthday. In honor of that, we’re excited to have our host, Melvin Adams, switch seats and share his own story this week! Our content manager, Catherine D. Kent,  joins him on the show this week to ask questions about Melvin’s life and the founding of NWEF. Melvin talks about his childhood in Africa, what it was like being homeschooled before h...

There aren’t a lot of good decisions being made by school board members. Some don’t even know that they have the power of decision. Why is that? On today’s episode, Sherri Story and Cheryl Facciani give us an answer to that question. They believe school board members can and should be empowered to act on behalf of their communities, not be silenced by associations and superintendents. They also ha...

Today on The State of Education , Melvin talks to Sherri Story and Cheryl Facciani, who are part of the team behind Virginia’s new School Board Member Alliance. Sherri and Cheryl have very different life stories, but they share a common experience—being the dissenting voices on their local school boards. Plus, they love their kids and want to do what they can to create safe educational spaces for...

Are America’s school boards too far gone? Are we fighting a losing battle? Veronica Gemma has faced it all: discouragement, accusations, and pushback from her community and local school board colleagues. But she wanted transparency, so she decided to step up and challenge the Critical Race Theory and gender ideology that was creeping into her district, as well as the board’s failure to implement s...

Today, our guest on The State of Education is a woman who had no previous experience in the realm of education before becoming a member of her local school board. No experience—except that she loved her children and dedicated ten years to homeschooling them. After her children went back to public school in their teens, Veronica Gemma was dissatisfied with the low standards and lack of parental inv...

Do small classrooms and close-knit communities offer something big public schools could never offer? Our guest today, Robert Mitchell, is a rural school teacher and college professor. In his small Colorado school, he only teaches about thirty-five students, but he loves what he does. He also wants other people to see the value in America’s small rural schools, recognize the challenges they face, a...

Jenny Clark is—first and foremost—a mom. But she’s also the founder of Love Your School, a non-profit in Arizona that empowers parents and educators to make choices about the education plan that works for them and their kids. Today on The State of Education With Melvin Adams, Jenny talks with us about the incredible strides she and others have made to get a universal ESA passed in Arizona. Listen...

Today on The State of Education with Melvin Adams, we’re once again talking with Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Nina has had a lot of experience in education, but she’s especially passionate about the opportunities and ideals that charter schools hold up for families. What’s one reason why she thinks charter schools are highly sought after? Parental invol...

In order to have accountability in a school, you must connect with families. That’s why Nina Rees sees charter schools as a step towards restoring quality education in America because charter schools offer parents a chance to keep schools accountable. Rees, a long-time advocate of charter schools and school choice, has decades of service behind her, including a stint with the U.S. Department of Ed...

In a society where college degrees are worshiped, it’s sometimes difficult for highschool graduates to find an alternative path that’s meaningful and pays the bills. But, there’s a revolution of thought on the horizon through organizations like Build Smart — a fully furnished trade school for students interested in construction. Today’s guest, Gary Feazell, shares his massive success story with us...

Why doesn’t modern therapy work? Part of the reason is simply: “affirmation.” Many therapists are pressured to affirm everything, even dangerous delusions and irreversible gender changes. Today on The State of Education with Melvin Adams , we’re again talking with conservative therapist and activist Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, who isn’t shy about her views on where the mental health industry is headed...

In celebration of Black History Month, friend of NWEF Ted Lamb is sharing a weekly story about a little-known black patriot. Don’t miss these special episodes each Friday! Resources Mentioned on Today’s Episode:   “History Moments With Ted” is an engaging Facebook group run by Ted Lamb. There, he shares daily history facts and lessons that help broaden your knowledge of history in a memorable way:...

The wave of change towards gender ideology and transition has swept across America, even affecting the smallest hearts in our communities, i.e. our children. For some of our children there’s been damage—some beyond repair. The reality of that tragedy is partially rooted in the mental healthcare industry where some therapists are affirming a change in a child’s gender identity before adulthood, som...

In celebration of Black History Month, friend of NWEF Ted Lamb is sharing a weekly story about a little-known black patriot. Don’t miss these special episodes each Friday! Resources Mentioned on Today’s Episode:   “History Moments With Ted” is an engaging Facebook group run by Ted Lamb. There, he shares daily history facts and lessons that help broaden your knowledge of history in a memorable way:...

Competition almost always increases product quality. And it’s no different with education. Some see school choice as a nefarious attempt to defund public schools. Others see it as a tool to hype academic quality in all schools. Which is it? Today on The State of Education with Melvin Adams , Matt Beienburg shares how states can (and should!) enact policies that give parents the academic freedom an...

In celebration of Black History Month, friend of NWEF Ted Lamb is sharing a weekly story about a little-known black patriot. Don’t miss these special episodes each Friday! Resources Mentioned on Today’s Episode:   “History Moments With Ted” is an engaging Facebook group run by Ted Lamb. There, he shares daily history facts and lessons that help broaden your knowledge of history in a memorable way:...

Recently, Virginia’s Board of Education decided to revise the history and social study standards for public school students. This generated both praise and backlash, and Jillian Balow, our guest today on The State of Education , is right in the thick of it. Jillian is not only the Superintendent of Public Instruction on the Virginian State School Board, but she was a teacher herself and formerly t...

In celebration of Black History Month, friend of NWEF Ted Lamb is sharing a weekly story about a little-known black patriot. Don’t miss these special episodes each Friday! Resources Mentioned on Today’s Episode:   “History Moments With Ted” is an engaging Facebook group run by Ted Lamb. There, he shares daily history facts and lessons that help broaden your knowledge of history in a memorable way:...

Join us for School Choice Week 2.0! Technically, School Choice Week ended last week, but we wanted to keep celebrating with part two of our conversation with Terrye Seckinger—school choice expert and champion in South Carolina. Today’s conversation focuses on the need for our communities to be open minded about the possibilities of school choice. Because every child must be respected as an individ...

It’s national school choice week in America. And today, we’re going to celebrate through a conversation with Terrye Seckinger. She has been a champion of school choice in her home state of South Carolina for years. Always caring for the wellbeing of youth, Terrye has served in multiple roles that directly impact the education and overall trajectory of young generations in her state. Today, she has...

Good communities make good schools. And Paul Lott wants us to start taking that seriously. No matter a child's race or socio-economic status, if his/her community lacks integrity, so will that child’s education. Not only are communities failing students, but also the form of instruction is failing kids too. Every child needs healthy person-to-person interaction throughout their education. Ins...

Have you heard of America's classroom situation compared to its industrial age setting? They’re not much different. And that’s a problem for many reasons. First, the world we live in—the world we are supposed to be preparing kids for—is significantly different from that world. Secondly, kids have to learn much, much more. And inside this model, it’s impossible to learn it all well. How can we...

As a young nonprofit, joining the national grassroots movement to improve our schools has been rewarding. Collaborating with you has allowed us, as a small but growing voice in society, to chip away at the hard outer layers of an education system entrenched in decades of misused ideas and their consequences. That’s why we approached contemporary issues this year, like transgenderism, school librar...

In September, NWEF held an awareness Luncheon titled, “Our Children & Country” where concerned citizens, school board members, and parents gathered to learn more about the mission, vision, and impact of Noah Webster Educational Foundation. Today’s episode gives a sneak peak of the great content that was shared by two of our speakers, one of which was Melvin Adams himself!  GET CONNECTED WITH N...