The K-12 Governance Mess: Who IS in Control Here?

COMING SOON: This episode is an introduction to the confusing manner in which K-12 Education is “governed,” which guides listeners through a process of following the money in this multi-billion dollar industry to trace how greed, corruption, and apathy have infected our nation’s K-12 educational standing in the world. Esoteric and counter-intuitive concepts and terms must be unpacked to give Americans the chance to engage with this topic, which includes a deep dive into what “local control” means, and who is ultimatlely in charge and responsible for this gigantic, inexcusable mess. The confusing and largely absent role of county, state, and federal offices of education is described at length

The K-12 Governance Mess: School Boards—“Who Will Watch the Watchers?”

COMING SOON: Instead of a national board of K-12 educators using their collective expert knowledge to place our youth into the top rankings of learning outcomes in the world, we have this—local politicans who do not have any education or experience in our world call all of the shots. This is the ACTUAL institution which should be defunded and dismantled—not the U.S. Department of Education. We don’t call for that step however, and instead imagine the creation of a body of experts—current veteran teachers—will equal power in this mess to be able to stand up for our nation’s children.

The K-12 Governance Mess: The Emperor Has No Clothes

COMING SOON: Most superintendents used to be teachers, but they usually have taught for under 5 years and a very long time ago—and it shows. This epsiode delves deeply into the bizarre and impossible role of school district superintendents, with a compassionate, but brutally honest and stark description of this job. Topics covered include unpacking the term, “failing up” which teachers use to describe how district brass get promoted after obvious failures, and how our nation’s superintendents just get shuffled around instead of being called to account for their greed, ignornace, arrogance, and corruption. The cult of personality, and the role that sycophants play in massaging the egos of our nation’s superindentents will be addressed, as well as how these cults manufacture the consent of the school district staff and communities to comply with their bad ideas.

The K-12 Governance Mess: The Mess Within the Mess—Charter Schools, Vouchers, School Closures, Homeschooling, Unschooling, and Private Schools

COMING SOON: In this episode, the producers tackle this deeply nuanced topic, and unpack each of these terms with compassion and honesty, as they begin to reimagine how schooling options can be shifted to reflect our nation’s diversity. Female flight from neighborhood public schools, and over enrollment by gender into alternative cohorting or school options will be unpacked, as will the needs of neurodivergent and differently abled students, socieoeconomically disenfranchised students, and ethnic, racial, and religious minorities who all struggle to find a home in K-12 schooling today.

The K-12 Governance Mess: How to Authentically Include Parents and Students in all of the BIG and Little Decisions

COMING SOON: How can K-12 education reckon with the exclusion of parents in the governance of our world which forces them to turn to school boards to find entrance into the conversation? What role SHOULD parents have, and how should K-12 cross that divide to include them? What is a developmentally appropriate and truly authentic way to include students at all grade levels? Hard questions that deserve deep consideration are discussed in this episode

The K-12 Governance Mess: The Impossible Job of Being a School Principal

COMING SOON: School principals have the worst job in K-12 education. We unpack why this is, and while we don’t make any excuses for them, we also have boundless love for them too.

The K-12 Governance Mess: The Role of District, State, and National Teacher Unions

COMING SOON: The producers have an honest conversation, warts and all, about the role of teacher unions in this mess. You can expect brave admissions of the flaws in union work, but also deep solidarity and love for union organization work too. Topics covered include how superintendents hold clandestine meetings to bust teacher union negotiations, which undermine the long term success of your local neighborhood school, and why previous teacher union strikes have often failed to bring about enough of the change we need to clean up this mess.