Jason Bedrick on Religious Freedom & Private School Autonomy

Bob and Cara talk with Jason Bedrick, EdChoice’s director of policy, about New York’s controversial “substantial equivalency” proposal that would give the state Department of Education oversight of school curricula at yeshivas and other private and parochial academies to ensure parity with their public school counterparts. Jason explores the historical roots of “substantial equivalency” statutes, and questions their compatibility with a free and pluralistic society. He points to European approaches to educational pluralism, and New York’s case, as bellwethers for the rest of the country. This battle is the subject of Jason’s forthcoming book with Jay Greene, Yeshivas vs. the State of New York: A Case Study in Religious Liberty and Education.

Stories of the Week: In Michigan, a new partnership model to improve struggling schools that serve 50,000 students puts the districts themselves in charge of managing their own turnaround plans instead of the state – can this strategy work? Is Texas’s cap on special education services an arbitrary and unfair denial in violation of federal disability laws, or a legitimate effort to limit over-classification of special needs students? A new report claims that teacher morale has fallen dramatically, from 50 percent in 2018 to 34 percent in 2019 – how can we change course?

Commentary of the Week: Erik Hanushek in Education Next, “Professionalizing Teaching and Winning the Salary Wars.”

Tweet of the Week:  Marilyn Muller ~ Dyslexia Advocate @1in5advocacy

Wait…you have two children in private school, but you’re raging at us about saving public schools, and our choices to remove our neurodiverse IDEA children from public school over the abuse #FAPEdenied inflicts?! Respectfully, isn’t that the definition of hypocrite?

— Marilyn Muller ~ Dyslexia Advocate (@1in5advocacy) November 13, 2019

Newsmaker Interview Guest:

Jason Bedrick is director of policy for EdChoice. Previously, Bedrick served as policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. He also served as a legislator in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and was an education policy research fellow at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. Bedrick received his master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.

EDCHOICE.ORG

Twitter: @JasonBedrick

Next week’s guest: Steven Wilson, Founder and former CEO, Ascend Charter Schools

News Links:

https://www.educationviews.org/a-new-michigan-education-model-shows-promising-signs-for-students-in-struggling-schools-but-can-it-work-long-term/

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Students-denied-special-education-failing-schools-14831755.php

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/low-teacher-morale-has-reached-a-tipping-point-study-142620535.html

https://www.educationnext.org/professionalizing-teaching-winning-salary-wars-higher-pay-increased-accountability/

Check out our other episodes of “The Learning Curve” podcast!

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews on schooling during COVID-19 & lessons from teaching great Jaime Escalante

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March 27, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard continue coverage of COVID-19’s impact on K-12 education, joined by Jay Mathews, Washington Post education columnist.

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Ambassador Ray Flynn on Public Leadership During Global Crisis & the Case for Catholic Schools

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March 20, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve” (St. Patrick’s Day edition), Cara and Gerard discuss COVID-19’s ongoing toll on families and K-12 education, and interview Raymond Flynn, former Ambassador to the Vatican and three-term Mayor of Boston, about the world-historical moment presented by the Coronavirus pandemic as well as his advocacy for religious education.

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NC State’s Anna Egalite on School Choice in America & Abroad

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March 13, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard talk with Dr. Anna Egalite, Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University, about her experiences and research on K-12 education systems in her native Ireland, as well as America and India.

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Kevin Chavous on the Promise & Potential of Quality School Choice Options

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March 6, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Kevin Chavous, President of Academics, Policy, and Schools of K12, Inc. about how to promote quality education options that meet the diverse needs of all kids.

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Citizen Stewart on Changing the K-12 Education Power Structure

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February 28, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard engage in a candid conversation about education policymaking with Citizen Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of Brightbeam.

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CREDO’s Macke Raymond on Charter Schools’ Quality & Growth

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February 21, 2020

CREDO's Margaret “Macke” Raymond joins "The Learning Curve" this week to discuss charter school performance; the types of charters that are succeeding consistently and replicating; and the formula for quality both in instruction and policymaking.

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Cato’s Neal McCluskey on School Choice & Educational Federalism

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February 14, 2020

This week on "The Learning Curve" podcast, Cara Candal welcomes new co-host Gerard Robinson and guest Neal McCluskey, Director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. They discuss America’s growing interest in school choice, and some of its many benefits.

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Julie Young, Virtual Schooling Pioneer

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February 7, 2020

Julie Young, CEO of ASU Prep Digital High School, joins The Learning Curve podcast this week to talk about the digital learning revolution.

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Susan Wise Bauer on Classical Education & Homeschooling

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January 31, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Bob Bowdon & guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Susan Wise Bauer, writer, historian, homeschool parent, and author of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, as well as numerous other books.

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Dick Komer on Espinoza v. Montana & the Bigoted Legacy of Blaine Amendments

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January 24, 2020

On this episode of “The Learning Curve,” Bob & Cara are joined by Dick Komer, Senior Attorney with the Institute for Justice. Komer led the oral argument this week before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiffs in the high-profile school choice case, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue.

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Derrell Bradford on the Future of Education Reform

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January 17, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Bob Bowdon is joined by guest host Alisha Thomas Cromartie, personal growth coach, education leader, and former Georgia state legislator. They talk with Derrell Bradford, Executive Vice President of 50CAN, about the future of education reform.

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