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...
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
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
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
Lots of grassroots conservatives see vouchers as a gov't takeover of private education, the product of an unholy alliance between the establishment GOP and billionaire-funded lobby groups. Here's another TN candidate who's challenging the Senate Majority Leader from the right
September 6, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Lots of grassroots conservatives see vouchers as a gov't takeover of private education, the product of an unholy alliance between the establishment GOP and billionaire-funded lobby groups. Here's another TN candidate who's challenging the Senate Majority Leader from the right
More evidence that red state voucher programs are riling the GOP. Conservative candidate for governor of Tennessee, running on 'liberty & less government,' wants to suspend TN's new voucher program. Hard to overstate how angry much of the grassroots right remains over vouchers
September 6, 2025 at 12:18 PM
More evidence that red state voucher programs are riling the GOP. Conservative candidate for governor of Tennessee, running on 'liberty & less government,' wants to suspend TN's new voucher program. Hard to overstate how angry much of the grassroots right remains over vouchers
And they tell you poetry majors won't make any money...
September 4, 2025 at 2:19 PM
And they tell you poetry majors won't make any money...
Will be interesting to see whether anger among grassroots conservatives over school vouchers and billionaire influence becomes a real thing
September 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Will be interesting to see whether anger among grassroots conservatives over school vouchers and billionaire influence becomes a real thing
Spotted at Barbara's Books in downtown Chicago. The Education Wars is in excellent company!
August 31, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Spotted at Barbara's Books in downtown Chicago. The Education Wars is in excellent company!
One big reason Iowa Dems are bullish on turning the state blue(r) is the ginormous, and deeply controversial, school voucher program rammed through by the GOP. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
August 30, 2025 at 3:15 PM
One big reason Iowa Dems are bullish on turning the state blue(r) is the ginormous, and deeply controversial, school voucher program rammed through by the GOP. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
1 takeaway from the Iowa special election: don't listen to centrist Dems on education. Caitlin Drey made defending and funding public schools a focal point of her campaign and called for rolling back Iowa's controversial school voucher program. IOW opposite day
August 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM
1 takeaway from the Iowa special election: don't listen to centrist Dems on education. Caitlin Drey made defending and funding public schools a focal point of her campaign and called for rolling back Iowa's controversial school voucher program. IOW opposite day
Even if you're very excited about Mississippi's test score increases, pointing to the state as offering a *road map for how to genuinely let every child thrive* seems like a stretch. Is eliminating the state income tax, which MS just did, part of the road map? www.theargumentmag.com/p/mad-libs-b...
August 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Even if you're very excited about Mississippi's test score increases, pointing to the state as offering a *road map for how to genuinely let every child thrive* seems like a stretch. Is eliminating the state income tax, which MS just did, part of the road map? www.theargumentmag.com/p/mad-libs-b...
The Zuckerbergs have been accused of abandoning DEI but turns out that's not true
August 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
The Zuckerbergs have been accused of abandoning DEI but turns out that's not true
Such a sign of our times that ALEC - which we still think of as the place where corporations go to buy government policy - now has a model bill requiring schools to let students leave for bible study
July 23, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Such a sign of our times that ALEC - which we still think of as the place where corporations go to buy government policy - now has a model bill requiring schools to let students leave for bible study
I can understand why the big $$$ voucher crowd is unhappy about this interview. @jamestalarico explains very clearly that billionaires bought vouchers in Texas and that opposition was deep and bipartisan. To which Rogan says: *it's not us versus them. It's the top versus the bottom*
July 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I can understand why the big $$$ voucher crowd is unhappy about this interview. @jamestalarico explains very clearly that billionaires bought vouchers in Texas and that opposition was deep and bipartisan. To which Rogan says: *it's not us versus them. It's the top versus the bottom*
Listening to this amazing @jamestalarico.bsky.social interview with Joe Rogan and I keep thinking about the study that found that the ideal progressive candidate to win back working class voters is a middle school teacher podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...
July 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Listening to this amazing @jamestalarico.bsky.social interview with Joe Rogan and I keep thinking about the study that found that the ideal progressive candidate to win back working class voters is a middle school teacher podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...
Programs that make it easier for working class kids to attend college are also illegally woke because *it is well recognized that race and ethnicity are inseparable from socioeconomic status* Starting to get a real vibe about this whole *merit* thing... www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/hi...
July 19, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Programs that make it easier for working class kids to attend college are also illegally woke because *it is well recognized that race and ethnicity are inseparable from socioeconomic status* Starting to get a real vibe about this whole *merit* thing... www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/hi...
Turns out that the $7 billion the Trump admin is withholding from K-12 schools will disproportionately hurt districts in red states. Districts in West Virginia, already reeling from tax cuts and school vouchers, will be the biggest losers www.newamerica.org/education-po...
July 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Turns out that the $7 billion the Trump admin is withholding from K-12 schools will disproportionately hurt districts in red states. Districts in West Virginia, already reeling from tax cuts and school vouchers, will be the biggest losers www.newamerica.org/education-po...
2nd poll in a row showing Dems handily outperforming GOP on education. Makes sense because 'we shouldn't have public schools' or 'we're going to cut programs at your kid's school cuz we're spending the $ on vouchers for affluent parents' aren't popular positions www.educationnext.org/which-party-...
June 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
2nd poll in a row showing Dems handily outperforming GOP on education. Makes sense because 'we shouldn't have public schools' or 'we're going to cut programs at your kid's school cuz we're spending the $ on vouchers for affluent parents' aren't popular positions www.educationnext.org/which-party-...
Another noteable outcome from the NYC race: the dismal performance of Dems for Education Reform founder Whitney Tilson. Influential centrists/edu abundos insist that Dems need to run like Michael Bloomberg (charters! go hard at unions). Tilson did and he got .8 % of the vote
June 25, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Another noteable outcome from the NYC race: the dismal performance of Dems for Education Reform founder Whitney Tilson. Influential centrists/edu abundos insist that Dems need to run like Michael Bloomberg (charters! go hard at unions). Tilson did and he got .8 % of the vote
Gloucester MA where the 275 year anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill will be reenacted next weekend (it’s complicated)
June 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Gloucester MA where the 275 year anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill will be reenacted next weekend (it’s complicated)
Thanks @dwallacewells.bsky.social for explaining so clearly what's at the heart of the 50-state voucher program buried in the big beautiful bill: a war on the entire idea of public goods www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...
June 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Thanks @dwallacewells.bsky.social for explaining so clearly what's at the heart of the 50-state voucher program buried in the big beautiful bill: a war on the entire idea of public goods www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...
Education is an underappreciated part of the *abundance* vision. So seems significant that the candidate running on the abundance platform (charter schools! Dems were wrong on school closures! Go hard at teachers unions) is polling below 1% in the NYC mayor's race.
June 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Education is an underappreciated part of the *abundance* vision. So seems significant that the candidate running on the abundance platform (charter schools! Dems were wrong on school closures! Go hard at teachers unions) is polling below 1% in the NYC mayor's race.
All politics is downstream from education reform. 20+ years ago we made kindergarten 'harder' for [something about college and career readiness] and things are not working out very well
June 9, 2025 at 12:50 PM
All politics is downstream from education reform. 20+ years ago we made kindergarten 'harder' for [something about college and career readiness] and things are not working out very well