WonkyFolk

Greetings, CharterFolk! This week, Andy and I are focused on a Thanksgiving theme. We are talking about what we are thankful for over the last year, personally and professionally, as well as traditions and new results. For those of you who would prefer a video recording, we provide a link to YouTube as well.  This week some of the topics include: Welcome back and tales from the trail ( 00:04...

Greetings, CharterFolk! Greetings, CharterFolk! This is the second WonkyFolk where Andy is talking while Jed is walking the Camino Trail with his wife, Amy. Andy and Cara Fitzpatrick, an editor at Chalkbeat and a Pulitzer Prize winner for Local Reporting in 2016 for a series about school segregation , talk school choice history and school choice today. Their conversation focuses on Cara’s book, Th...

This week Andy is talking while Jed is walking…hiking the Camino Trail with his wife, Amy. Andy is talking with  Morgan Polikoff, Associate Professor of Education at the University of Southern California(USC)’s Rossier School of Education .  Their conversation focuses on public opinion on education, particularly parent opinion, and the similarities and...

This week, Andy and I are talking with Lakisha Young, the Founder and CEO of The Oakland REACH , and Heather Harding, Ed. D, the Executive Director of the Campaign for a Shared Future . Our conversation focuses on the difficult judgment calls parents and advocates are having to make as they attempt to retain focus on the learning needs of students amid proposed book bans and curriculum changes. A...

Andy and Jed are talking about traveling and the fun of summer, their two mystery guests for the next WonkyFolk, and finding educational common ground via the juxtaposition of partisan politics and genuine educational accomplishments in Virginia. And for those of you who would prefer a video recording, we provide a link to YouTube as well.  This week some of the topics we discuss include the...

This week, Andy and I are talking about the Supreme Court denial to hear Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier “(wherein the plaintiffs justified their restrictive dress code by asserting that girls are ‘fragile vessels)”, other Supreme Court cases, the science of reading, and Moms for Liberty. This week some of the topics we discuss include the following: • The implications for charter schools of t...

This week, Andy and I are talking with  Macke Raymond , the director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes ( CREDO ) regarding CREDO’s  As a Matter of Fact: National Charter School Study III , which is the third installment of a multi-decade study examining the academic progress of students enrolled in charter schools compared with those enrolled in traditional public schools....

Can't take yes for an answer: what the teachers' unions and DeSantis have in common. This week some of the topics we discuss include the following: Can’t say yes to equity and excellence (00:01:10) Can’t say yes to providing parents with timely access to results or resources and tools to support their kids in mitigating pandemic learning losses (00:08:42) Can’t say yes to improving the way we teac...

Amnesia about A Nation at Risk. Amnesia about Covid responses. And Jed wishing he could have amnesia about the King’s game on April 30, 2023. ---------- This week some of the topics we discuss include the following: The 40th Anniversary of report, “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform” (00:01:59) Why the American economy has been able to persist despite the problems in...

This week some of the topics we discuss include the following: We introduce ourselves (00:00:00) Reactions to the 2023 Chicago mayoral election results (00:02:39) Thoughts regarding the 2023 Denver mayoral election, which has two strong charter candidates in a June runoff (00:12:35) Gutsy mental health moves (00.20.50) The Biden Administration’s nuanced Title IX decisions (00:23:11) Implications o...

This week some of the topics we discuss include the following: Why are we making WonkyFolk Reactions to Nashville and trends we often miss at tragic moments like this The commonalities and differences facing public education in Los Angeles and Chicago Andy’s recommendation of the best read to prepare educators The changes that ChatGPT may or may not bring to public education