Gretchen Conley
@gconley.bsky.social
Newly retired first grade teacher from southern Illinois. Advocate for public and community schools. Mother of four and grandmother to two sweet girls.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
This morning, my White Rural Rage coauthor @paulwaldman.bsky.social and I have a new Public Notice substack piece out—thanks, @atrupar.com—about the damaging effects on white rural America of Trump 2.0.
Plz circulate if you’re so inclined:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
Plz circulate if you’re so inclined:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
The white rural reckoning
Trump is betraying the very voters who put him back in power.
open.substack.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This morning, my White Rural Rage coauthor @paulwaldman.bsky.social and I have a new Public Notice substack piece out—thanks, @atrupar.com—about the damaging effects on white rural America of Trump 2.0.
Plz circulate if you’re so inclined:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
Plz circulate if you’re so inclined:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
"Scholars Nicholas Jacobs and Daniel Shea found that rural schools play an outsized role in helping define the sense of place that is at the heart of contemporary rural identity."
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers barnraisingmedia.com/why-red-stat...
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers barnraisingmedia.com/why-red-stat...
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers
The billionaire-led push to siphon public funds to private religious schools faces a backlash from rural voters who make up the GOP base.
barnraisingmedia.com
March 20, 2025 at 3:49 PM
"Scholars Nicholas Jacobs and Daniel Shea found that rural schools play an outsized role in helping define the sense of place that is at the heart of contemporary rural identity."
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers barnraisingmedia.com/why-red-stat...
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers barnraisingmedia.com/why-red-stat...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
When I looked out across the room, I saw several women wiping their eyes. They were silently crying while listening to me speak. Now, I can hype up a crowd, but I have never induced such raw emotion in my life.
I don’t think it had much to do with me… open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
I don’t think it had much to do with me… open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
You Are Going to Have to Tell Them the Truth
Speaking in the Heartland
open.substack.com
March 19, 2025 at 7:41 PM
When I looked out across the room, I saw several women wiping their eyes. They were silently crying while listening to me speak. Now, I can hype up a crowd, but I have never induced such raw emotion in my life.
I don’t think it had much to do with me… open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
I don’t think it had much to do with me… open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
This story is fucking bonkers
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
March 20, 2025 at 12:59 AM
This story is fucking bonkers
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
If you voted for the sitting president or care about someone who did, I hope you'll listen (and share).
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
New @haveyouheard.bsky.social Dismantling public education is such an obviously terrible idea that maybe - just maybe - a shout from across the partisan divide might actually be heard. @jackschneider.bsky.social's powerful Letter to a Trump Voter on.soundcloud.com/xZdGoYV3xtQb...
#194 Letter to a Trump Voter
Like just about everyone these days, our own Jack Schneider is troubled–make that frightened–by our political landscape. But however deep our divides may be, there’s one issue that can, if not bring u
on.soundcloud.com
March 11, 2025 at 2:19 PM
If you voted for the sitting president or care about someone who did, I hope you'll listen (and share).
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Clark and others at the Army Corps were instructed to go through social media posts to scrub DEI: words and ideals “that I have been taught my whole entire career were important and is what the Navy and made our country stronger.”
And then she was fired...
www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
And then she was fired...
www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
Army Corps made veteran in Kansas City scrub agency’s ‘DEI’ content. Then she was fired
“I am an ally and a champion for things that I was told to scrub,” former Army Corps of Engineers worker Cynthia Clark said.
www.kansascity.com
March 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Clark and others at the Army Corps were instructed to go through social media posts to scrub DEI: words and ideals “that I have been taught my whole entire career were important and is what the Navy and made our country stronger.”
And then she was fired...
www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
And then she was fired...
www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
They're stealing from public services now, so they can privatize those services to steal more from you in the future.
March 13, 2025 at 12:46 AM
They're stealing from public services now, so they can privatize those services to steal more from you in the future.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Listen to Jack Schneider’s generous, thoughtful letter to a Trump voter about the future of public education.
If you voted for the sitting president or care about someone who did, I hope you'll listen (and share).
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
I'm not here to chasten or shame. Instead, I hope to convince you that there is still something called "the public good." We all stand to lose if we dismantle public education.
New @haveyouheard.bsky.social Dismantling public education is such an obviously terrible idea that maybe - just maybe - a shout from across the partisan divide might actually be heard. @jackschneider.bsky.social's powerful Letter to a Trump Voter on.soundcloud.com/xZdGoYV3xtQb...
March 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Listen to Jack Schneider’s generous, thoughtful letter to a Trump voter about the future of public education.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
The school choice lobby came up with a fool-proof plan to bring universal vouchers to Texas. Just knock out all of the GOP reps who oppose them. What could possibly go wrong? Latest @haveyouheard.bsky.social heads to the Lone Star State to find out on.soundcloud.com/syk1Y9516raA...
#191 These Conservative Texans Oppose School Vouchers
Vouchers are not conservative. That’s what we heard again and again when we talked to Texans who consider themselves Republicans but oppose their party’s top education priority. We hear from rural Tex
on.soundcloud.com
January 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The school choice lobby came up with a fool-proof plan to bring universal vouchers to Texas. Just knock out all of the GOP reps who oppose them. What could possibly go wrong? Latest @haveyouheard.bsky.social heads to the Lone Star State to find out on.soundcloud.com/syk1Y9516raA...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I often struggle to articulate to folks outside of edu-world just how crazy the voucherized vision of schooling truly is. This new piece by Eli Hager for @propublica.org (which has been doing a bang-up job covering this stuff) tells you everything you need to know www.propublica.org/article/ariz...
Arizona Regulators Closed a Failing Charter School. It Reopened as a Private Religious School Funded by Taxpayers.
Arizona’s acclaimed voucher program provides zero transparency into private schools’ history, academic performance or financial sustainability to help parents make informed school choices.
www.propublica.org
December 31, 2024 at 1:45 PM
I often struggle to articulate to folks outside of edu-world just how crazy the voucherized vision of schooling truly is. This new piece by Eli Hager for @propublica.org (which has been doing a bang-up job covering this stuff) tells you everything you need to know www.propublica.org/article/ariz...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I have nothing against private schools. I have nothing against religious schools. I have nothing against homeschooling.
I have everything against public schools being defunded in order to pay for them.
I have everything against public schools being defunded in order to pay for them.
November 26, 2024 at 12:59 AM
I have nothing against private schools. I have nothing against religious schools. I have nothing against homeschooling.
I have everything against public schools being defunded in order to pay for them.
I have everything against public schools being defunded in order to pay for them.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I’m an American teacher, and I’m worried.
I’m worried about losing special education and Title I funding, worried about the voucher scam, worried about Christian nationalism in public schools, and I’m tired of being scapegoated.
Education isn’t the problem.
Education is the solution.
I’m worried about losing special education and Title I funding, worried about the voucher scam, worried about Christian nationalism in public schools, and I’m tired of being scapegoated.
Education isn’t the problem.
Education is the solution.
November 24, 2024 at 11:59 PM
I’m an American teacher, and I’m worried.
I’m worried about losing special education and Title I funding, worried about the voucher scam, worried about Christian nationalism in public schools, and I’m tired of being scapegoated.
Education isn’t the problem.
Education is the solution.
I’m worried about losing special education and Title I funding, worried about the voucher scam, worried about Christian nationalism in public schools, and I’m tired of being scapegoated.
Education isn’t the problem.
Education is the solution.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I've been asked by a few people what worries me most about the future in public schooling. What permanent damage might be inflicted? exacerbated? and what cautions might I give? Where to focus! First and foremost, protect the public assets - the land and buildings that are our public schools!
November 24, 2024 at 5:19 PM
I've been asked by a few people what worries me most about the future in public schooling. What permanent damage might be inflicted? exacerbated? and what cautions might I give? Where to focus! First and foremost, protect the public assets - the land and buildings that are our public schools!
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) was in town looking to connect with like-minded people who value freedom and community.
Free people. Free Missouri. Free coffee.
I decided I would go because if I love anything, it’s freedom. I can afford to buy my own coffee. open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
Free people. Free Missouri. Free coffee.
I decided I would go because if I love anything, it’s freedom. I can afford to buy my own coffee. open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
The Coffee Shop Encounter
A small town libertarian
open.substack.com
November 24, 2024 at 5:24 PM
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) was in town looking to connect with like-minded people who value freedom and community.
Free people. Free Missouri. Free coffee.
I decided I would go because if I love anything, it’s freedom. I can afford to buy my own coffee. open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
Free people. Free Missouri. Free coffee.
I decided I would go because if I love anything, it’s freedom. I can afford to buy my own coffee. open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
Benton Park in St. Louis, MO.
November 23, 2024 at 2:49 PM
Benton Park in St. Louis, MO.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
There were a few bright spots for those who love public education buckscountybeacon.com/2024/11/this...
This Election Actually Showed Americans Still Love Their Public Schools - Bucks County Beacon
Anti-public education activists and their billionaire backers saw many of their efforts to privatize education and prop up extremist candidates across the country rebuffed – even in deep red states.
buckscountybeacon.com
November 21, 2024 at 2:25 PM
There were a few bright spots for those who love public education buckscountybeacon.com/2024/11/this...
I just joined Public School Strong. I look forward to being trained and to join others in standing up for public schools and against those who want to destroy them.
publicschoolstrong.controlshift.app/local
publicschoolstrong.controlshift.app/local
Public School Strong
publicschoolstrong.controlshift.app
November 21, 2024 at 7:31 PM
I just joined Public School Strong. I look forward to being trained and to join others in standing up for public schools and against those who want to destroy them.
publicschoolstrong.controlshift.app/local
publicschoolstrong.controlshift.app/local
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Important thread on the importance of public schools to people in rural areas, and how vouchers will undermine those schools.
🚨 How did an 80-20 Trump county in rural Kentucky also turn out to be the most anti-school voucher county in the state?
I drove there to find out. 🛻
And the lessons I learned go way beyond the enormous value of public schools in rural communities.
A 🧵 you’ll want to read….
I drove there to find out. 🛻
And the lessons I learned go way beyond the enormous value of public schools in rural communities.
A 🧵 you’ll want to read….
November 21, 2024 at 2:17 AM
Important thread on the importance of public schools to people in rural areas, and how vouchers will undermine those schools.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I am reposting favorite blog posts, & working on new ones. READING is one of my favorite subjects. I worry about the harm that can occur by pressuring children to read earlier than ever before. nancyebailey.com/2014/02/02/s...
Setting Children Up to Hate Reading - Nancy Bailey's Education Website
Any educator or parent who understands the beauty of reading and the importance of helping a child learn to do it right was appalled to read two recent articles about the subject. Both should make all...
nancyebailey.com
November 18, 2024 at 3:09 PM
I am reposting favorite blog posts, & working on new ones. READING is one of my favorite subjects. I worry about the harm that can occur by pressuring children to read earlier than ever before. nancyebailey.com/2014/02/02/s...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
NEW: Private schools across the South that were established for white children during desegregation are now benefiting from tens of millions in taxpayer dollars flowing from rapidly expanding voucher-style programs, a @propublica analysis found.
www.propublica.org/article/segr...
www.propublica.org/article/segr...
Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars
North Carolina offers an especially telling window into what is happening across this once legally segregated region where legislatures are now rapidly expanding and adopting controversial voucher-sty...
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2024 at 12:07 PM
NEW: Private schools across the South that were established for white children during desegregation are now benefiting from tens of millions in taxpayer dollars flowing from rapidly expanding voucher-style programs, a @propublica analysis found.
www.propublica.org/article/segr...
www.propublica.org/article/segr...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
I read this book when it was published. After this election, I cannot recommend it enough! Trump 2.0's edu policies are going to be worse (& even more hated) than last time. We'll have a real opening to offer a better vision for public K-12 than the status quo. This book outlines a potential vision.
November 17, 2024 at 3:47 PM
I read this book when it was published. After this election, I cannot recommend it enough! Trump 2.0's edu policies are going to be worse (& even more hated) than last time. We'll have a real opening to offer a better vision for public K-12 than the status quo. This book outlines a potential vision.
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
School vouchers are a key part of Trump’s education agenda.
The evidence against vouchers is overwhelming.
But this is also about what’s right and wrong—and whether policy should be about helping instead of hurting kids and families.
Here’s The Privateers in 3 minutes👇
youtu.be/TJFGtNN9WRs?...
The evidence against vouchers is overwhelming.
But this is also about what’s right and wrong—and whether policy should be about helping instead of hurting kids and families.
Here’s The Privateers in 3 minutes👇
youtu.be/TJFGtNN9WRs?...
Josh Cowen Delves into Takeaways from The Privateers
YouTube video by Harvard Education Press
youtu.be
November 17, 2024 at 12:59 PM
School vouchers are a key part of Trump’s education agenda.
The evidence against vouchers is overwhelming.
But this is also about what’s right and wrong—and whether policy should be about helping instead of hurting kids and families.
Here’s The Privateers in 3 minutes👇
youtu.be/TJFGtNN9WRs?...
The evidence against vouchers is overwhelming.
But this is also about what’s right and wrong—and whether policy should be about helping instead of hurting kids and families.
Here’s The Privateers in 3 minutes👇
youtu.be/TJFGtNN9WRs?...
Reposted by Gretchen Conley
Most Texas school board candidates who support book bans lost their elections
Most Texas school board candidates who support book bans lost their elections
A majority of pro-book ban school board candidates lost in Texas, but education advocates are worried about other election results.
www.lonestarlive.com
November 13, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Most Texas school board candidates who support book bans lost their elections