Jennifer Berkshire
@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social
Podcasting about education policy and politics at haveyouheardpodcast.com | Latest book: The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual www.educationwarsbook.com. Follow my work at: http://educationwars.substack.com
Turns out that holding kids back if they can't read by 3rd grade is good for temporary test score increases but terrible for the adults the kids become www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Turns out that holding kids back if they can't read by 3rd grade is good for temporary test score increases but terrible for the adults the kids become www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
If the GOP ends up losing this Tennessee congressional race, school vouchers will be a key factor. Pro-voucher PACS spent millions to knock out the grassroots conservative candidate because he opposed vouchers. It worked - & now they have a candidate no one is excited about wpln.org/post/how-com...
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
If the GOP ends up losing this Tennessee congressional race, school vouchers will be a key factor. Pro-voucher PACS spent millions to knock out the grassroots conservative candidate because he opposed vouchers. It worked - & now they have a candidate no one is excited about wpln.org/post/how-com...
Apparently our schools no longer teach math or reading...
Arthur Bestor, Educational Wasteland: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools (1953)
Rudolf Flesch, Why Johnny Can't Read (1955 )
Hyman Rickover, American Education: A National Failure (1963)
Arthur Bestor, Educational Wasteland: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools (1953)
Rudolf Flesch, Why Johnny Can't Read (1955 )
Hyman Rickover, American Education: A National Failure (1963)
November 24, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Apparently our schools no longer teach math or reading...
Arthur Bestor, Educational Wasteland: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools (1953)
Rudolf Flesch, Why Johnny Can't Read (1955 )
Hyman Rickover, American Education: A National Failure (1963)
Arthur Bestor, Educational Wasteland: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools (1953)
Rudolf Flesch, Why Johnny Can't Read (1955 )
Hyman Rickover, American Education: A National Failure (1963)
Weekend listening: Even as ICE crackdowns impact schools, access to public education for immigrant students remains the law of the land. Have You Heard heads to Chicago to hear how schools are responding. And we dig into the landmark 1982 SCOTUS decision: Plyler v Doe soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#208 ‘A Lifetime of Hardship’
Forty plus years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that denying immigrant students access to public education would impose a lifetime of hardship on them. Today, that landmark decision remains on the books
soundcloud.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Weekend listening: Even as ICE crackdowns impact schools, access to public education for immigrant students remains the law of the land. Have You Heard heads to Chicago to hear how schools are responding. And we dig into the landmark 1982 SCOTUS decision: Plyler v Doe soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
Irony about this *turns out COVID didn't break the Dems after all* take is that the polls re school closures have been remarkably consistent on this FOR YEARS. Question is why have so many journalists/pundits been unable to accept this? www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-covid-...
The COVID political backlash disappeared
Turns out the pandemic didn't break the Democratic Party
www.theargumentmag.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Irony about this *turns out COVID didn't break the Dems after all* take is that the polls re school closures have been remarkably consistent on this FOR YEARS. Question is why have so many journalists/pundits been unable to accept this? www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-covid-...
Even as ICE crackdowns impact schools, access to public education for immigrant students remains the law of the land. New @haveyouheard.bsky.social heads to Chicago to hear how schools are responding. And we dig into the landmark 1982 SCOTUS decision: Plyler v Doe soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#208 ‘A Lifetime of Hardship’
Forty plus years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that denying immigrant students access to public education would impose a lifetime of hardship on them. Today, that landmark decision remains on the books
soundcloud.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Even as ICE crackdowns impact schools, access to public education for immigrant students remains the law of the land. New @haveyouheard.bsky.social heads to Chicago to hear how schools are responding. And we dig into the landmark 1982 SCOTUS decision: Plyler v Doe soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
I wrote about why it matters that K-12 education is now moving to the 'Department of the Boss' open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
RIP Department of Education
Why it matters that K-12 education will now be housed within the 'Department of the Boss'
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I wrote about why it matters that K-12 education is now moving to the 'Department of the Boss' open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
The trollish obliviousness of Trump officials like ED sec Linda McMahon both to the suffering they're causing AND to the political price they'll pay is something to be hold
November 16, 2025 at 5:33 PM
The trollish obliviousness of Trump officials like ED sec Linda McMahon both to the suffering they're causing AND to the political price they'll pay is something to be hold
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
As @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social is so good to keep reminding us, progressives can continue to win on this issue if they will get off the fence and stop flirting with these neovoucher programs.
Good news is that, despite 1930s proto-Nazi school politics parallels, today's privatization push--draining public school funding, licensing discrimination, segregating students, lacking accountability, and mostly benefitting the well-off--is deeply unpopular!
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
edlawprof.substack.com/p/what-rhyme...
What Rhymes With Nazi? Far-Right Posse in American School Ponzi
How U.S. Education Politics Resembles Early Nazi Germany
edlawprof.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
As @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social is so good to keep reminding us, progressives can continue to win on this issue if they will get off the fence and stop flirting with these neovoucher programs.
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
This is endlessly fascinating to me: why do politicians left of center seem so reluctant to stake a claim as a voice in defense of public education while the right vomits out myriad losing arguments
November 8, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This is endlessly fascinating to me: why do politicians left of center seem so reluctant to stake a claim as a voice in defense of public education while the right vomits out myriad losing arguments
Recommended weekend listening: in a growing # of states, education policy reflects the vision of individual billionaires. We head to Florida, where @jasongarcia.bsky.social & @flbaloney.bsky.social help us get to the bottom of a controversial school privatization plan soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
HY#207 Under the Influence
Have You Heard heads to Florida, where education policy is increasingly being determined by wealthy donors. We meet a billionaire who has been putting big bucks behind a very particular vision for the
soundcloud.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Recommended weekend listening: in a growing # of states, education policy reflects the vision of individual billionaires. We head to Florida, where @jasongarcia.bsky.social & @flbaloney.bsky.social help us get to the bottom of a controversial school privatization plan soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
Education played a surprising role in powering this week's blue wave. I wrote about what went down, why it matters and what's next educationwars.substack.com/p/education-...
Education Helped Power the Blue Wave
10 surprising election takeaways
educationwars.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Education played a surprising role in powering this week's blue wave. I wrote about what went down, why it matters and what's next educationwars.substack.com/p/education-...
I wrote a little something about how anger over school vouchers continues to roil red state politics, and why the pundits telling Dems to *moderate* on education (aka embrace school choice) are missing the boat open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
Vouchers are (still) roiling red state politics
An unpopular policy threatens to disrupt the political status quo
open.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I wrote a little something about how anger over school vouchers continues to roil red state politics, and why the pundits telling Dems to *moderate* on education (aka embrace school choice) are missing the boat open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
Recommended weekend listening - IQ is back with a vengeance. In the latest @haveyouheard.bsky.social, starring the brilliant Quinn Slobodian, we lift up the 'race science' rock to see what's squirming underneath soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#206 Race Science is Back. It Never Went Away.
Race science, with its noxious claims that ‘biology is destiny,’ comes roaring back during periods of social change. That’s the conclusion of a new book by historian Quinn Slobodian, tracing today’s o
soundcloud.com
October 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Recommended weekend listening - IQ is back with a vengeance. In the latest @haveyouheard.bsky.social, starring the brilliant Quinn Slobodian, we lift up the 'race science' rock to see what's squirming underneath soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
Hayek's Bastards is one of the best books I've read this year.
Race science is back. Again. In the latest episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social, historian Quinn Slobodian helps us make sense of the return of IQ and 'biology as destiny.' Essential listening if you're trying to understand why public education = such a Trump target soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#206 Race Science is Back. It Never Went Away.
Race science, with its noxious claims that ‘biology is destiny,’ comes roaring back during periods of social change. That’s the conclusion of a new book by historian Quinn Slobodian, tracing today’s o
soundcloud.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Hayek's Bastards is one of the best books I've read this year.
Race science is back. Again. In the latest episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social, historian Quinn Slobodian helps us make sense of the return of IQ and 'biology as destiny.' Essential listening if you're trying to understand why public education = such a Trump target soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#206 Race Science is Back. It Never Went Away.
Race science, with its noxious claims that ‘biology is destiny,’ comes roaring back during periods of social change. That’s the conclusion of a new book by historian Quinn Slobodian, tracing today’s o
soundcloud.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Race science is back. Again. In the latest episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social, historian Quinn Slobodian helps us make sense of the return of IQ and 'biology as destiny.' Essential listening if you're trying to understand why public education = such a Trump target soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
Trump admin going after special education with a hatchet in the dark of night seems like an issue the Dems could run with
October 11, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Trump admin going after special education with a hatchet in the dark of night seems like an issue the Dems could run with
I wrote about the inconvenient success of Mississippi educationwars.substack.com/p/the-inconv...
The Inconvenient Success of Mississippi
It's not just education reform skeptics who are giving the Mississippi Miracle the side eye
educationwars.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I wrote about the inconvenient success of Mississippi educationwars.substack.com/p/the-inconv...
The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began
October 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began
Whatever you think about James Talarico's chances, key ingredient missing from this take is that his ascendancy has been powered by deep opposition to school vouchers in Texas. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
Opinion | He’s Young, Talented and Openly Religious. Is He the Savior Democrats Have Been Waiting For?
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Whatever you think about James Talarico's chances, key ingredient missing from this take is that his ascendancy has been powered by deep opposition to school vouchers in Texas. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
If you want to understand why Zohran Mamdani is talking about phasing out NYC's gifted & talented program for kindergarteners, latest episode of Have You Heard is a great place to start. Hint: inequality in school translates to inequality in the world soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
#205 Schools as Sorting Machines
Forget all that talk about education as the great equalizer. Public schools and inequality are joined at the hip. But must it be that way? We talk to the authors of a recent book called Schooled and S
soundcloud.com
October 3, 2025 at 12:16 PM
If you want to understand why Zohran Mamdani is talking about phasing out NYC's gifted & talented program for kindergarteners, latest episode of Have You Heard is a great place to start. Hint: inequality in school translates to inequality in the world soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
In our new issue, @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social investigates the right-wing push toward “classical education,” a departure from the longstanding bipartisan agreement that school should first and foremost prepare students for the daily grind.
Uniform Policy | Jennifer C. Berkshire
Democrats must come up with a defense of public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation
thebaffler.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:52 PM
In our new issue, @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social investigates the right-wing push toward “classical education,” a departure from the longstanding bipartisan agreement that school should first and foremost prepare students for the daily grind.
What the right gets right about what's gone wrong with public education open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
What the Right Gets Right About What's Gone Wrong with Public Education
We need a vision for schools that goes beyond job training
open.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:24 PM
What the right gets right about what's gone wrong with public education open.substack.com/pub/educatio...
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
1) I had a lovely conversation about the #USSC Mahmoud decision with @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social concerning parental rights and why I think the Supreme Court may use the 1st amendment-- against history and tradition-- to render public schools unconstitutional.
An Existential Threat
Could the Supreme Court outlaw public schools?
educationwars.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:38 PM
1) I had a lovely conversation about the #USSC Mahmoud decision with @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social concerning parental rights and why I think the Supreme Court may use the 1st amendment-- against history and tradition-- to render public schools unconstitutional.
Reposted by Jennifer Berkshire
Great essay from @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social.
“If public education is to survive, Democrats will have to come up with an explanation for why we have public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation”
Would add: Dems should listen to the teachers telling everyone that.
“If public education is to survive, Democrats will have to come up with an explanation for why we have public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation”
Would add: Dems should listen to the teachers telling everyone that.
America’s public schools have long been hyperfocused on career readiness. Now, the right wing is embracing “classical education” instead. @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social considers what this means for the future of American schooling.
Uniform Policy | Jennifer C. Berkshire
Democrats must come up with a defense of public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation
thebaffler.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Great essay from @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social.
“If public education is to survive, Democrats will have to come up with an explanation for why we have public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation”
Would add: Dems should listen to the teachers telling everyone that.
“If public education is to survive, Democrats will have to come up with an explanation for why we have public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation”
Would add: Dems should listen to the teachers telling everyone that.