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About Reality Check with Jeanne Allen
Reality Check is the weekly podcast about anything and everything having to do with education.This series of lively, engaging podcasts is hosted by Jeanne Allen the Founder and CEO of the CER, where we’ve been working to expand education opportunity and innovation for a more than a quarter of a century. We chose the name Reality Check because we’ve found that a lot of what you read or see about education is often WRONG or at least, seriously misleading. In order to know what’s really going on in our elementary and secondary schools as well as in higher education, you will need a Reality Check. Never miss an episode! Listen and Subscribe to Reality Check at:
July 15, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Fix Unequal Educational Opportunity, with Sen. Mary Landrieu
This week’s guest is a rare commodity in American politics. As US Senator from Louisiana, Democrat Mary Landrieu (@SenLandrieu) often bucked conventional wisdom of her party to put children’s needs ahead of adults. She is a supporter of the DC Opportunity Scholarship program and a leading proponent in Congress of charter schools, which she sees as a “powerful tool to fix the generations-long challenge of unequal educational opportunity.” (WSJ, April 23, 2019) She pulls no punches in talking about the candidates, the president and the state of public affairs. Our last edition for the summer, this Reality Check is really hot!
July 8, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: A New Model for Rural America with Ben Chavis and James McDougald
America’s heartland is where much of the goodness of America’s heart can be found, and today Jeanne chats with two amazing leaders who help keep the heart of educational excellence beating there. Ben Chavis and James McDougald both grew up in Robeson County, North Carolina – the very definition of rural – some might say real – America and both have returned. Chavis, who hails from the Lumbee Indian tribe, is an educator, school founder and was leader of one of the most successful charter schools in America – Oakland California’s American Indian Charter school. McDougald was a football hero at Wake Forest University, a star in the NFL and is City Commissioner for Maxton. They pull no punches in describing the roadblocks, frustrations but ultimate successes of advancing quality education in “flyover country”.
June 25, 2019
Several Idaho charter schools were attacked and vilified by members of the Idaho Charter School Commission at a meeting the members thought was “closed”. Fortunately someone recorded the session, at which members disparaged the schools, students, management and indeed all residents of Jerome, Idaho.
In this special release of Reality Check, Jeanne interviews Dr. Christine Ivie, Superintendent and Principal of Heritage Academy Charter School in Jerome, Idaho. Dr. Ivie’s school and several other Idaho charter schools were attacked and vilified by members of the Idaho Charter School Commission at a meeting the members thought was “closed”.
Heritage Academy’s student body has a large majority of students of color, more economically disadvantaged students and more English learners than other Idaho charters. It has succeeded in raising scores for its students. Idaho’s Charter Commission needs members who actually believe in and support charter schools. The chairman and other members of the commission who expressed such disdain for the charter community need to resign. Tune in to hear the sad details of the attack on these charters and the plan to fight back.
June 24, 2019
Longstanding institutions, including healthcare and education, have remained unchanged despite a climate of lightning-fast innovation in technology. According to this week’s guest, “every student should have the opportunity to go to school, work hard, and reach their American Dream,” no matter what the path or provider, a challenge with the current education bureaucracy. Thankfully Mark Johnson is challenging the status quo. Tune in to learn how a new generation of elected official is leading the fight for transformation of public ed. @MarkRJohnsonNC
June 17, 2019
The old saying that “mighty oaks from little acorns grow” is a spot on description of the Alpha Academy Charter School and STEM Institute. From 90 students in 2000 to more than 900 today, Alpha and its CEO and Superintendent Eugene Slocum are revolutionizing education and breaking the mold for education in underserved communities like Fayetteville, North Carolina. @Alpha_Academy_ on Twitter
Tune in and be inspired!
June 11, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: HOPE for Life, a Conversation with some special students
Talk about HOPE! Well it’s out there, and this edition of Reality Check is all about it. Learn how an education group is tailoring education to the needs of students – 40,000 of them – and not the other way around. Learn4Life and its’ program called HOPE allows new mothers to have their children in the classrooms with them – which turns out to be good for both mother and child. Girls who would otherwise be high school dropouts graduate – often quite literally with “babes in arms” – to new horizons and life opportunities. Give a listen and hear first hand experiences from Staci Roth the HOPE program coordinator, Lenor Miranda who just graduated in May, and current student Fabiola Ceritos.
June 4, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Education Rebel, Dennis Littky
Self-described “radical educator” Dennis Littky talks about his ideas for making education meaningful, impactful and relevant to individual students. Really radical things! Through his work as a school leader and founder of College Unbound, Dennis helps address the needs of students whose needs are not met by traditional education and adults who are among the 37 million college dropouts, creating education specifically around their interests while allowing them to get a degree while also working full time. Littky’s approach is the epitome of the “K – Career” vision that 21st century education must embrace to stay relevant. Tune in to hear from this radical, fascinating – and successful – education rebel.
May 29, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Guest Ashley Berner: No One Way To School
Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner, Deputy Director of the Institute for Education Policy at Johns Hopkins School of Education, joins Reality Check to discuss educational pluralism and more: her 2016 book, Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School, educational choice in America and around the globe, international communities’ attitudes toward the biggest domestic educational issues, the history of religious schools and their resurgence in the States, educational models we can learn from, and how teachers are using their freedom as educators and what they can do to continue to improve schools. These topics and more on this week’s Reality Check.
May 20, 2019
This week on Reality Check, David Hardy, Executive Director of Excellent Schools PA and Founder & CEO of Philadelphia’s Boys’ Latin Charter High School joins the show to discuss the current state of education and the politics behind the opposition, Covering everything from “what education should do for each child and student” to the looming presidential race and where education issues will fit for the growing pool of candidates, this episode of Reality Check should not be missed.
May 13, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: NCSW edition: Bob Bellafiore and Harmeet Dhillon
Jeanne sits down with two stalwarts on the front lines of the battle to defend choice and freedom for teachers and other public employees, Harmeet Dhillon and Bob Bellafiore. Though Dhillon is in California and Bellafiore in New York they are fighting remarkably similar battles to force unions to obey the law that was codified by the Supreme Court’s “Janus” decision.
Harmeet is representing California teachers who had to go to court to get their union dues refunded – dues they have been owed for months. The unions erected a Rube Goldberg style obstacle course that needs to be navigated in order for teachers choosing freedom to receive the refunds now legally required by Janus.
Bob is involved in “New Choice New York”, which reaches out to public employees in New York and elsewhere to explain how they can opt out of paying union dues or agency fees, and how to fight the inevitable foot dragging and intransigence of the unions. Harmeet and Bob are walking the walk. Their stories are both alarming and encouraging giving an up close and personal look into the fight for workers’ freedom.
April 29, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Higher Education IS for Everyone - An Interview with Mitch Daniels
On this episode of Reality Check, Jeanne sits down with Mitch Daniels, the president of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana, to talk about bringing a renewed sense of relevance and purpose to higher education. Daniels is no ordinary college president. He is putting fidelity to Purdue’s origins as a land grant college, making education more accessible to more people while maintaining rigor and containing costs. He has started a high school network, driven competency-based education and aligned with a major US company to create a global university. These and more hot topics are the focus of this week’s Reality Check.
April 22, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: David Bruce Smith - The Grateful American
“If students don’t know history, it’s not their fault.” Those are the words of author, philanthropist and “grateful american” David Bruce Smith with whom we explore the enthusiasm for American history that led him to found the Grateful American Foundation in 2014. Smith seeks to re-ignite that same passion in young people – and adults – across America. He talks about the special bond he shared with his grandfather, the real estate developer Charles E. Smith; his lifelong love affair with learning; and the Grateful American Book Prize, which he launched in 2015.
April 15, 2019
In this episode of Reality Check, Jeanne continues her conversations with some of the high-energy personalities at the ASU+GSV Summit, where innovators, edtech leaders, educators, investors, and philanthropists gathered last week to explore innovations in education both at home and around the world. In this part, she heard from Torian Richardson (education innovator, world traveler, and entrepreneur); Bart Epstein (Founder, Jefferson Education Exchange); April Sarraille (Knowledge Leaders); and John Fillmore (Chief of Business Operations, Chegg).
April 10, 2019
Jeanne taps into the buzz and the energy of ASUGSV X, where innovators, edtech leaders, educators, investors, and philanthropists gather to explore innovations in education both at home and around the world.
In Part I, listen to these people who stopped by Reality Check to share a bit about how they are bending the Arc of Human Potential:
Bobbi Kurshan (Investor & UPenn Innovator)
Bruce Davis (Teachstone)
Jeremy Rossman (Make School)
Melissa Lazaro (Lexplore)
Candice Burns (Friendship Public Charter Schools)
Jon Hage (Charter Schools USA)
Ann Brown (Waterford Institute)
April 2, 2019
Deborah Quazzo is the founder and managing partner of the annual ASU+GSV Summit, which will be held this year from April 8 -10 in San Diego, CA. The event, now in its 10th year, celebrates innovations and innovators across the global “preK to gray” learning and talent landscape, and attracts over 4,000 attendees. In this “curtain-raiser” interview for the summit, Deborah talks about her journey to the $2 trillion dollar emerging market in global ed tech; why innovators and investors now see education as a deeply consequential growth market; and how the ASU+GSV Summit incubates and accelerates growth by forging the passions and energy of super-talented individuals across a range of sectors in a crucible of collaboration and innovation. For more information about the summit, visit the ASU+GSV Summit website at: asugsvsummit.com
March 26, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: David vs Goliath: The Land of Enchantment Goes After Charters
Educator and school founder JoAnn Mitchell, runs an award winning, high performing charter school serving low-income children. The NM Secretary of Education is throwing roadblocks in the way of her replication and expansion. Why would someone concerned about students interfere? Mitchell is having to hire attorneys to fight the state. Jeanne digs into this real life David and Goliath story unfolding right now.
March 20, 2019
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Is EDREFORM the new blue? w/Rick Hess & Jay Greene
A new blockbuster report entitled “Education Reform’s Deep Blue Hue,” examines the political preferences of many of the people across what some consider prominent “edreform” groups. And what exactly constitutes this increasingly amorphous term? Listen to this provocative discussion of these topics and more.
March 13, 2019
From the role of charter school “authorizers,” to why charter schools are so often misunderstood, to why there is no “one-size fits all” model for charters, Jim delves deeply into the question of why charters schools work. “As a strategy to improve public education, chartering is working phenomenally well,” says this week’s guest, Jim Goenner. “Why did charter schools take off? Number one there was just a pent up demand and need. Number two it’s a great idea.” Listen in to this edition Reality Check, to get the real scoop about the critical role of charter schools in driving innovation in public education in America.
March 6, 2019
Jimmy Kemp, president of the Jack Kemp Foundation, joins Jeanne on this episode of Reality Check and discusses the legacy of his late father, former congressman, cabinet secretary, and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp; how professional football shaped Jack Kemp’s career in public service and his passionate advocacy to end poverty and racism in America; and how Opportunity Zones, a feature of the 2017 tax bill strongly supported by the Jack Kemp Foundation, has the potential to improve educational choices in low income communities across America.
February 28, 2019
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos joins host Jeanne Allen in this special newsmaker edition of Reality Check, and discusses the administration’s recently released proposal to create tax credit scholarships in participating states. The Secretary strikes an optimistic tone: “Two-thirds of Americans support this notion of expanding choices and education freedom. And 75 percent of millennials . . . this is an issue that is broadly embraced and supported.” We were honored to have Secretary DeVos as our first guest on Reality Check in 2019.
December 19, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Steve Forbes Looks at Education for the Future
Well-known publisher and writer Steve Forbes joins Jeanne Allen for today’s episode of Reality Check to discuss prosperity, revitalizing education, and his hopes for the future. Tune in to learn about his new documentary “In Money We Trust?” too!
December 10, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: The Future of Education — Reimagining Learning with Kelly Young
Kelly Young, executive director of Education Reimagined, joins Reality Check to talk about her quest to bring learner-centric education models and methods to the forefront of practice in the field and tools and techniques to the hands of teachers longing for a better way to help their students accomplish more. Young discusses the need to reimagine and refocus the way young people are educated and stay lifelong learners throughout their time as a bona fide student, as well as beyond classrooms in the workplace, and continuing as an individual among the many people of the world. Young takes listeners through Education Reimagined’s mission and the relationship between competency and a learner-centric model, why it’s so important for the future of school and work together, and what it means for the future of America. This and more on this week’s Reality Check with Jeanne Allen.
December 4, 2018
Rebecca Friedrichs, lead plaintiff in the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court case Friedrichs v. CTA, staunch advocate for teachers’ rights, and author of the newly released Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country which details her plight and the stories of educators from across the country, joins Reality Check to discuss teachers unions and the entrenched educational establishment, the impediments and roadblocks to good change, progress that they can and do create, what teachers and parents alike can expect in the future for worker freedom, and what they can do to support teachers and better education in America today.
November 19, 2018
Jonathan Harber joins Reality Check in New York to discuss his work as an education technology pioneer and entrepreneur in the education world and realm of capital. Jonathan talks through the concepts behind the StartED accelerator, education data, the portability of information, and the newest information-sharing initiatives in schools and education. He also discusses school choice and parents’ role in their children’s education, equitable funding for charter schools, and his own experience as a founder and operator of a charter school. Don’t miss these topics and more on the cutting edge of innovative, redefined delivery of education on this week’s episode of Reality Check with Jeanne Allen.
November 13, 2018
Denise Gallucci, chief executive officer of GEMS Education Americas, works tirelessly within and outside of her own company to help build a global citizenry among learners at all levels who can contribute positively and make real change in their own lives and for the world. Denise joins Jeanne on Reality Check to discuss her experiences as an award-winning educator, successful businesswoman, and chief executive that have led her to believe education is “the link between people all over the world.” Denise and Jeanne discuss schools’ reliance on age-old concepts and tried-and-failed solutions like throwing useless money at issues to no avail, the desperate need for schools to reinvent themselves, why all learners and teachers need to work to innovate — globally — and how the world can build critical thinkers and learners of everyone engaged.
November 5, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: The Media & Education with Laura Meckler
Laura Meckler, education correspondent with the Washington Post, sits down with Jeanne Allen on Reality Check to discuss her path to journalism and the education world and more. Laura shares her thoughts and her personal experiences covering politics, politicians, and education policy: the ease of finding material to write about, online learning, and other issues. Don’t miss her first-hand account on exciting topics like these on this week’s episode of Reality Check.
October 30, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Innovation and the future of MOOCs with Anant Agarwal
CEO of edX Anant Agarwal joins Reality Check to speak about the state of innovation in higher education, new developments in his business and others, learning and structural models on the way, and discusses his success with edX. He also speaks about his experience as a teacher and what we can expect for the future of online higher ed in America and globally.
October 23, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Governor Jeb Bush
As we gear up for CER’s Silver Anniversary Summit & Gala, we are thrilled that Governor Bush, the event’s Honorary Chair, was able to join CER’s Founder and CEO Jeanne Allen for this episode of Reality Check.
Said Governor Bush about CER in an announcement shortly before this session, “The Center for Education Reform’s 25 years of bold leadership and relentless advocacy for freedom, innovation and quality in education have changed the lives of millions of students across the nation.”
October 16, 2018
The new Miss America, Nia Franklin, 25, proclaimed during the recent competition that,“As Miss America I will continue my work to make sure students across this nation have access to a quality education.” She is a role model, and her achievement and success are an example for all, particularly women, of what educational opportunity combined with hard work can do. Nia’s strength of vision and purpose has helped her achieve her goals, and chasing her dream she has overcome incredible obstacles and hardships. Nia joins Reality Check to discuss that vision and her thoughts for a future that everyone has the opportunity to participate in equally and equitably.
October 15, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Attorney, Author & Advocate Kevin P. Chavous
Kevin Chavous has run the gamut when it comes to advocating for expanded innovation in learning and furthering opportunities for families and children, having been an integral part of the success in initially bringing charter schools to Washington, D.C. and as D.C. councilman helping strengthen school choice and public education in the District. Apart from his public service, Chavous, president of academics, policy, and schools for K-12 Inc., works in the worlds of both business and law, and has authored four books including his latest, The Plan.
Kevin sits down to discuss personalizing learning for every child, how to work within — and without –politics to accomplish policy changes, the horizons for virtual and digital learning, and new innovations in business technology connecting students to data to parents and back to teachers to achieve a more dynamic, connected class. Don’t miss this and more on this edition of Reality Check with Jeanne Allen.
October 1, 2018
“… That’s what get’s me excited — if you bring people together, you can actually build on something and solve a problem.” Tommy Thompson has spent decades of his career bring people of all stripes together to solve problems, from his time as governor of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2001, to his service as Secretary of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush, to his role as a strategic advisor to entrepreneurs and lawmakers alike and as a voice in his community and for many across the country. Throughout his life and across all his initiatives and efforts Thompson has remained a staunch and relentless advocate for improving health and expanding opportunity. This week on Reality Check, Governor Thompson sits down to discuss the beginnings and condition of education and opportunity in America, as well as some of his newest ideas to increase economic prosperity for some seldom thought-of candidates.
September 24, 2018
Dan Forest’s role as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina includes much more than the traditional responsibilities of his office — this week on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen, Forest talks about making education a priority, using funds effectively and working in and out of the business, education and technology sectors to create a more fluid economy in his state, from encouraging advances in innovation to working in the statehouse to help policy work for every community.
Dan Forest has served as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina since January 2013. Prior to becoming Lieutenant Governor, he received two degrees from the University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC). After college, Dan became a leader in the business community for over 20 years, having served as office president and senior partner of the state’s largest architectural firm – Little Diversified Architectural Consulting. Dan has been designated as an Architect Emeritus. A father of four, he and his wife, Alice, reside in Wake County.
September 17, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Jonathan Hage, Charter Schools USA
As founder of Charter Schools USA, Jon Hage drove education management innovation — and is one of 8 outstanding honorees to be awarded for their work at CER’s 25th Silver Anniversary Summit on October 25-26 this year. But his extensive experience as a businessman and executive, philanthropist and trusted advisor to U.S. administrations on education make his story that much more compelling and this week’s Reality Check episode a must-listen. From his service in the U.S. Army to his creation of CSUSA, Jon Hage’s life and career have been dedicated to service, leadership, and creating systemic change for the better for America’s schools and schoolchildren. Jon sits down with Jeanne to talk about challenges and milestones along the path to edreform in Florida, how we can continue to innovate in the new K12 and business environment and more.
September 10, 2018
Andy Rosen, chairman and CEO of Kaplan Inc. sits down with Jeanne to cover everything in postsecondary education, from new innovations happening at Kaplan’s Purdue Global to how Higher Ed is speaking — or in some cases, not speaking — with the K-12 community. How is the pipeline to the workforce and career development is being invested in and streamlined for an online generation? This and more on this week’s Reality Check.
September 4, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Gisèle Huff, The Jaquelin Hume Foundation
Dr. Gisèle Huff is both interesting and engaging. While education transformation has been her main focus, she is also deeply interested in redirecting how the world of philanthropy works. Gisele’s background is extensive – she currently serves as Executive Director of the Jaquelin Hume Foundation and is the founder of the Learning Accelerator. She began in business, earned a Ph.D. in political science, with a concentration in political philosophy at Columbia University and taught at Golden Gate University, San Francisco University High School and Dominican College. She has been chairman of the Board of Directors of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Learning and as a member of the Board of Directors of iNACOL, among many other distinguished positions. She talks to Jeanne about her findings after many years of working in policy and philanthropy. This podcast is a must for discerning listeners!
August 27, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: What is the 'Modern School?' with Chris Whittle
Creating innovative opportunities to build a different type of education system is one of the things that Chris Whittle does best. He is reimagining education, creating what is being called “the first global school.” As Chairman and CEO of the Whittle Schools and Studios, Whittle is leading this global network of independent pre-K to 12 schools that are challenging traditional schooling methods and creating a better, more connected world. Coming in the fall of 2019 are the first two campuses of the Whittle Schools in Washington, D.C. and Shenzhen, China. Each campus will serve approximately 2,500 students and will feature spaces for modern learning, including areas for project-based learning, online learning, labs, global communications, and common areas. For more information on Chris Whittle and the Whittle Schools and Studios visit their website – https://www.whittleschool.org.
August 20, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Strayer Education President Brian Jones
Nothing lowers the spirit of Brian Jones, not even the ALS he was diagnosed with last year. He calls himself blessed, and the thousands of colleagues and friends he’s accumulated over the years are at testament to that. Former general counsel at the Education Department under President George Bush, and president of Strayer Education, Brian’s own experience growing up taught him the value of empowering people to find the education that best suits their needs, whatever the time or place might be. “One thing I love about being in higher ed today,’’ Brian says, “is that we do live in a time of really rapid innovation. Technology is really driving the ability to be able to personalize learning in ways that were just unthinkable a generation ago.” This thoughtful, aspirational, and fascinating interview is a must listen.
August 13, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: CEO and Education Entrepreneur, Fernando Zulueta
There are more than 20,000 students in more 100 schools who are thankful for Academica, a pioneer in the charter school movement. Founded in 1999 Academica is now one of the nation’s longest-serving and most successful education service organizations founded by brothers Fernando and Ignacio Zulueta. Not everyone can count one of their high schools as being a consistent part of U.S. News and World Report’s List of Best High Schools in the country, but Mater Academy Charter High School, an Academica school, can.
The Academica network of charter schools exemplify innovation and opportunity when it revolutionized the traditional K-12 educational path turning it into a dynamic K-16 network which provides students from all backgrounds and socioeconomic groups with access to a free, high-quality education that includes optional college courses taught by college instructors, located a school’s physical location or delivered online via Academica Virtual Education web portal.
Fernando Zulueta, CEO of Academica Corporation is a great leader in education choice and he is this week’s guest on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen.
July 30, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Education Choice Author and Researcher Mike McShane
Sometimes it only takes one experience to realize at least part of your life’s purpose. For Mike McShane his moment was during his time as a teacher at a historically African-American Catholic school on the West side of Montgomery, Alabama called St. Jude Educational Institute. It was there that he realized that too many children in Alabama and around the country were being denied the opportunity of a quality education. He realized he had to do something about it. And he did.
Mike McShane is currently the Director of National Research for EdChoice in Indianapolis. Among many, many literary publications, Mike is also the editor of New and Better Schools, the author of Education and Opportunity and coeditor of Educational Entrepreneurship Today,Teacher Quality 2.0 and Common Core Meets Education Reform. Most recently he was on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen discussing educational options and the affects the newest Supreme Court Justice nominee might have on school choice.
July 23, 2018
National Heritage Academies serves more than 58,000 students around the country through their network of 87 public charter schools in nine states. Started by J.C. Huizenga after the birth of his son when he began thinking education from a parent’s perspective. He believed every child should have the opportunity to receive a great education and schools should be held accountable to produce results. This led J.C. to open his first National Heritage Academies school in 1995 – Excel Charter Academy – and his belief continues to drive their mission forward today with Brian Britton at the helm as NHA’s President and CEO.
Jeanne had a chance to talk with Brian about his career, J.C.’s vision of NHA and the impact J.C. has made in education, and CER’s upcoming Silver Anniversary Summit and Gala where J.C. will be honored as a Silver Honoree, October 25-26, 2018 in Miami, Florida.
July 16, 2018
Imagine, if you will, a time when educational choice was something only very few people were bold enough to speak about, people who understood that in order for children to have schools that were set up to serve them well, something needed to change. It wasn’t that long ago. Nearly 25 years ago Lisa Graham Keegan helped to establish the pioneering charter school law that has transformed education for thousands in the Grand Canyon State. Lawmaker, state superintendent for public schools, national advocate and now Chief Executive at Arizona Chamber Foundation, Lisa Keegan is one of a kind. She founded A for Arizona, a joint project of the Chamber Foundation and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that seeks to accelerate the number of A quality public charter and public district schools in Arizona, with a focus on schools serving low-income communities. Keegan, one of the nation’s leaders in education reform, talks to CER’s Jeanne Allen about past, present and future in education today in Arizona and across the country.
July 2, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Active Philanthropist and Education Reformer, Steve Klinsky
As Americans have watched the cost of traditional college and even the cost of preparation for college rise astronomically over the years, the result has been crushing student loan debt. It has also sadly shattered the dream of even attending college for millions of students. Steve Klinsky, investor, active philanthropist and long-time education reformer conceived a solution that could serve as an “on-ramp to college” and began writing editorials describing his concept in 2012. By 2014, the “Freshman Year for Free” initiative was a reality – allowing students to earn up to one year of college credit without tuition or textbook expense. Today Steve Klinsky is the founder and CEO of Modern States, a non-profit education alliance dedicated to college access for all in partnership with edX, the leading online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT.
June 25, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: CEO Phoenix Charter Academy Network, Beth Anderson
Many passionate ed reformers and teachers in general, come to the profession from other walks of life or different training but Beth Anderson has been a teacher since 1991. She began her career teaching bilingual kindergartners in LA through Teach for America. But it was her work with her students’ young and mostly undereducated parents that sparked her deep commitment to serving adolescents who were disconnected from public education avenues. In 2006, Beth founded Phoenix Academy in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Today, she is the CEO of the successful and continually innovative Phoenix Charter Academy Network. The network has grown to three schools that challenge resilient, disconnected students with rigorous academics and relentless supports so they take ownership of their futures and succeed in high school, college, and as self-sufficient adults.
June 20, 2018
Teachers and unionized workers across the country could see relief and a freer working future this week when the Supreme Court issues its decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which is expected to drop any day now. Jacob Huebert is the Director of Litigation at the Liberty Justice Center and works to protect economic liberty, the First Amendment, and other constitutional rights in federal and state courts in Illinois and elsewhere. Jacob is also an attorney for Mark Janus in Janus v. AFSCME, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether governments can force their employees to pay fees to a union as a condition of their employment. Jacob is also the author of a book, Libertarianism Today, and his writing has been published widely in scholarly and other publications.
June 18, 2018
Erica Komisar, LCSW is a clinical social worker, psychoanalyst and parent guidance expert who has been in private practice in New York City for 25 years. She is best known in the media and parenting groups nationwide for her recent book Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters. Based on more than two decades of clinical work and breakthrough neurobiological research on caregiving, attachment and brain development, this book challenges established concepts (and myths) of infant resiliency, ‘having it all’ and even the definition of feminism. One thing this book is not about is quitting your job. Author Komisar emphasizes, “It’s not about working vs. not working – it’s really a book about more is more.”
June 11, 2018
Carol D’Amico is the Executive Vice President of Mission Advancement and Philanthropy with Strada Education Network. Her background as a nationally recognized expert in designing and leading strategies related to higher education, workforce development and business-led involvement with education reform has led her to her unique position at Strada Education Network. Since joining SEN in 2013, Carol has played a leading role in developing national and state-based philanthropic initiatives involving the higher education, business and workforce development sectors. SEN’s driving principle is Completion with a Purpose, or in Carol’s words, “How do we make sure people who engage in post high school education have a career objective in mind and are able to fulfill that objective?” The answers are as evolving as the new American workplace.
June 4, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Education Innovator, Bill Walton
In a lifetime of amassing experiences and diverse avenues of success, Bill Walton has been driven by one defining theme, “I’ve always been interested in the barriers to change.” A lifelong learner, Bill is an entrepreneur, education reformer, supporter of the arts, founder and chairman of the private equity firm Rappahannock Ventures, and is a feature film and documentary producer. His media interests also span newspapers, magazines, and his own webcast, The Bill Walton Show. For more than 25 years, he has been an education reformer and innovator. Bill and his wife Sarah developed an entire French and Spanish language curricula, Language Odyssey. Since then, he has been passionate in the belief that, “A free market in education rather than government-run schools is the ideal system for every child to flourish in.”
May 28, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Colin Sharkey
Read Colin Sharkey's BioBig changes are likely on the way for teachers, teachers’ unions and potentially for no less than the entire model of US education. “We really need to rethink the framing of the profession,” says Jeanne Allen. The impending Supreme Court ruling on the AFSCME v. Janus case and the growing demand for professional autonomy among teachers nationwide are just a few of the topics in this episode with guest Colin Sharkey. As Executive Vice President of the Association of American Educators (AAE), Colin is uniquely qualified to discuss the challenges facing today’s teachers. AAE is the nation’s largest non-union professional educator association with members in all fifty states, serving public districts, public charter educators and any employee working in schools. The AAE mission is to foster the transformation of the teaching profession by empowering and supporting a community of professionals for the benefit of students and the nation.
May 21, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: If You Think Teacher Strikes Are About Pay, Think Again
20,000 North Carolina teachers took to the streets of Raleigh for what was billed as a march and rally against low wages and underfunded schools. It was neither. “My heart goes out to the teachers that did turn out for the rally. The problem is, the rally organizers have an anti-charter school agenda,” said North Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools’ Executive Dir. Rhonda Dillingham.
North Carolina is the latest in a wave of coordinated efforts to engage charter school teachers to abandon their classrooms and their students under the façade of solidarity. This is the fifth in a series of walk-outs and sick-outs being encouraged by the National Education Association (NEA). In this Reality Check, Jeanne Allen is joined by charter school advocates, Rhonda Dillingham and Pamela Blizzard, the founder of two highly innovative charter high schools to unpack the messaging and hidden union agenda.
May 14, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Darla Romfo
Darla Romfo is the president and COO of the Children’s Scholarship Fund. CSF provides partial scholarships for low-income children in grades K-8 to go to private school. CSF has provided scholarships to more than 166,000 children and currently serves almost 26,500 children nationwide. Ms. Romfo has served as CSF’s president and COO since the organization offered its first scholarships in 1999. Prior to joining CSF, her positions on Capitol Hill included legislative director and counsel to Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and legislative director and tax counsel to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) She’s also been an attorney in private practice. A frequent speaker on education and school choice, her vision is clear as CSF marks 20 years of making educational opportunity possible with thousands of new scholarships that empower families. “The real issue is that every parent should be able to decide for their kid what is the best option for them and to make that choice. And that money should follow them.”
May 9, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Sarah Tantillo
If there’s one person who’s been-there-done-that in the world of education, it’s teacher, author, scholar, advisor and sought-after speaker, Sarah Tantillo. She taught English and the humanities in both traditional public and charter schools in New Jersey for 14 years. She chaired the Humanities Department at the highly-regarded North Star Academy School in Newark, and her students achieved an extraordinary 100 percent passing rate on the High School Proficiency Assessment for Language Arts and Literacy. She founded both the New Jersey Charter Resource Center and the New Jersey Charter Public Schools Association. Her books include The Literacy Cookbook andLiteracy and the Common Core: Recipes for Action, with a new one out later this year about how the charter school concept became a national movement. She holds degrees from Princeton, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers.
May 7, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Eva Moskowitz
Eva Moskowitz is known as the CEO of Success Academy Network. With 50 campuses throughout New York City and more in development, she’s regarded as a charter school crusader, innovator and the architect of a revolution but it’s been a long contentious road. “I never felt before I got into education that I was living a Godfather movie,” says Eva – only half joking. Success Academy has been sued more than twenty times by unions. Union battles and political roadblocks have been a part of the landscape since she started her very first school with 150 kindergarteners and first-graders in 2006. But her passion is boundless and her commitment to educating not only her more than 100,000 students but parents and the general public through her book The Education of Eva Moskowitz. “We need everyone to be informed because the stakes are so high.”
April 30, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Laura Sandefur
Laura Sandefur is the co-founder of Acton Academy. She and her husband Jeff began with one school in Austin, Texas in 2009 initially motivated to give their children a different kind of education than they could find anywhere. They began as they say, “with a blank piece of paper” to build their dream school. Today, Acton Academy is a growing network of more than 80 innovative schools all over the world. Incorporating blended learning, Socratic discussions, multi-aged learning environments, hands-on real-world apprenticeships, adaptive game-based programs, and teachers who are referred to as “guides” Acton Academy’s rigorous program has literally turned learning upside down.
April 23, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Lenore Skenazy
“We’re criminalizing common sense and rationality and we’re elevating hysteria to not only the common good but also what you must be to be an ok parent.” How do we overcome this? Jeanne Allen’s guest Lenore Skenazy has made overcoming this hysteria her life’s work. And for it, she’s been labeled “America’s worst mom”! But in this episode of Reality Check, we’ll hear frank conversation about how an innocent solo train ride by her 9-year old son spawned a movement to allow kids to be more resilient and independent, beginning with a book and a blog entitled Free-Range Kids and now 10 years later, is still going strong through her new organization Let Grow – in schools, homes and communities across the country.
April 16, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Matt Greenfield
Matt Greenfield is Managing Partner of ReThink Education, a venture capital firm focused on educational technology. He is on the boards of BrightBytes, Allovue, CareAcademy and Southern New Hampshire University. His non-profit affiliations include the leadership council of NewSchools Venture Fund and the board of Mouse.org. But Matt mostly thinks of his role as a problem solver. “As an investor, I start with solving a problem.” He wrote the business plan for the step-by-step modules for behavioral therapy in the treatment of autism which became “Rethink Autism”—now simply “Rethink.”
With a background in academia and educational technology, he insists there’s more to moving students toward their goals and ultimately a career path, “It’s not just technology but a respect for students,” Greenfield asks, “Does it delight and engage the students?”
April 10, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Jeanne Allen commentary on NAEP and A Nation Still At Risk
In 1983, President Reagan urged students to understand the new world in which they lived: “Your generation is coming of age in one of the most challenging and exciting times in our history. High technology is revolutionizing our industries, renewing our economy and promising new hope and opportunity in the years ahead . . .”
“Make sure you get the training and skills you need to take advantage of [these] new opportunities… Get a good education. That’s the key to success. It will open your mind and give wings to your spirit.”
On the eve of the 35th anniversary of the release of A Nation at Risk our students’ wings are clipped. National achievement has been stagnant for too many years, according to the results of the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress. It’s as if we’re in 1983 all over again, when A Nation at Risk declared that “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”
The result then was a movement that catalyzed a nation into challenging the status quo. And yet, despite amazing progress creating the opportunities and changes in a tired system that have allowed millions of students to have education that they would not otherwise be able to access had it not been for this report, today’s education report card on the state of national reading and math are dismal. With fewer than 40 percent of our students proficient in any subject, these scores are a sobering reminder that we remain a nation at risk with far too many children and young adults poorly educated, unprepared to enter college or the workforce, and ultimately, unable to achieve the American Dream of living a rewarding, prosperous life.
Listen now to this special edition of Reality Check, as Jeanne Allen shares her insights and analysis of the trends and challenges we face if the nation’ does not transform how—and what—we do to educate learners at all levels.
April 9, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Robert Pondiscio
Robert Pondiscio is a senior fellow and vice president for external affairs at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior advisor to Democracy Prep Public Schools in Harlem, New York. He writes and speaks extensively on education and education reform issues with an emphasis on literacy, curriculum, teaching and urban education. He came to the field of education as a second career and never intended to stay. He has become one of its most passionate spokespersons for reform and innovation. “I have a complicated relationship with testing and accountability.”
March 26, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: John Schilling
John Schilling is the President and CEO of the American Federation for Children, which was chaired by Betsy DeVos until she became Secretary of Education last year. John is a veteran of more than two decades in the field of education reform. “Choice works,” he says. “When you put parents in the driver’s seat, you find that giving parents the power to find the best educational environment for their child means that you’re going to give options to a lot of kids who don’t have them right now and really need them.” John Schilling is Jeanne Allen’s guest in this edition of Reality Check, a National Review podcast focusing on education issues.
March 12, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Carl Schramm
If there’s one thing that America’s public schools could use, it’s the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. This week’s guest on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen is Carl Schramm, former president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, who found himself spending many years studying what really makes a business succeed. The title of his new book, Burn the Business Plan, rips apart one of the most cherished assumptions in the world of business schools. As a professor at Syracuse, he’s seen it all, and his experience brings him to a lot of unconventional ways of thinking. Under his leadership, the Kauffman Foundation became the first grant-making foundation to own and operate its own charter school. Learn what allows some to succeed and some to fail in this Reality Check.
February 26, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Mark Mix
Can a private organization force someone to pay them to speak on his or her behalf? That’s the question before the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME on Monday, February 26. The case may well mean the end of mandatory dues under agency shop agreements, the major source of funds for public employee unions, including the teachers’ unions which have a stranglehold on the nation’s public schools. This week’s guest on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen is Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents Mark Janus, the plaintiff in the case. Learn all about one of the most important Supreme Court cases of the year on this edition of Reality Check.
February 12, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Robert Enlow
This week’s guest on Reality Check with Jeanne Allen is Robert Enlow, the president of EdChoice, which was founded two decades ago as the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Enlow, once a man of the left, now devotes his life to making Friedman’s vision of equal educational opportunity for all a reality.
January 29, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Gerard Robinson
This week’s edition of Reality Check with Jeanne Allen features a discussion with Gerard Robinson, whose career includes running the education departments of not just one but two states, and a passion for focusing on the nexus between criminal justice reform and education. From Historically Black Colleges and Universities and his work at the Thurgood Marshall Fund, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Center for Advancing Opportunity, there are probably few education experts in America who have a broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities that await education reformers today than Gerard Robinson.
January 22, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: National School Choice Week
This is National School Choice Week, and so this week we have a special hour-long edition of Reality Check with Jeanne Allen with a constellation of guests. You’ll hear interviews with some of the brightest lights in the school choice world, including Johnny Taylor and Sylvia Simms, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Senator Ted Cruz, and House members Paul Mitchell, Virginia Foxx and Luke Messer. You’ll also hear from some of the beneficiaries of school choice tell their heartwarming personal stories, including Denisha Merriweather and Walter Banks. Get excited about school choice this week, with Jeanne Allen!
January 15, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Tom Carroll
The major tax reform law that passed Congress in mid-December 2017 included a provision expanding the use of so-called 529 plans—tax free savings accounts that allow parents to put away money for their children’s college education. Now, they can be used for elementary and secondary education too. In this week’s Reality Check with Jeanne Allen, Thomas Carroll, a leader in the effort to include the measure in the tax bill, explains why it’s so important: “it’s the first time that a national school choice measure has been adopted [at the federal level] in the past 20 years.” Carroll knows what he’s talking about—he helped create New York’s charter school law and founded a network of high-performing urban charter schools.
January 8, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Why Is College So Expensive?
Why has a college education become so expensive, throwing millions of students into debt before they’ve even entered the work force? This week’s Reality Check with Jeanne Allen explores that and related issues with John Katzman, one of he nation’s leading experts in higher education. “Technology in every other industry has lowered costs,” Katzman points out. But “in higher ed, it’s actually raised costs.” Moreover, “The reality is that education has gotten more expensive, but not the teaching part. The actual teaching is about 20 percent of what a school spends on a student.” For more, check out this week’s podcast on education with Jeanne Allen.
January 1, 2018
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: A Solid BASIS
Guest: BASIS co-founder Michael Block (@BASISed)
This week’s Reality Check with Jeanne Allen features a discussion of the extraordinary 20 year history of http://www.basisschools.org/”>BASIS Schools with co-founder Michael Block, who launched their international network of schools with his wife Olga back in 1998. From a single school in Tucson, Arizona BASIS has now grown to more than 30 schools which set the pace for private, public and charter schools alike. “Very early on,” he says, they “recognized that hard work and perseverance and failure is important. The ability to learn from your failures is really very important.” Today, four of the top five high schools in the United States are BASIS Schools. Listen to find out how they did it!
December 26, 2017
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: No Two Brains Are Alike
Guest: Ulrik Juul Christensen (@juulchristensen)
No two brains are alike. Every teacher knows that children all learn differently, and yet our schools are designed to teach them all the same way. In this week’s Reality Check with Jeanne Allen, one of the world’s leading experts in Adaptive Learning explains how it’s changing training in the workplace, and how it can help schools too. Area 9 Learning CEO Ulrik Juul Christensen, medical doctor and entrepreneur, explores the way computer science is meeting cognitive neuroscience at the cutting edge of educational theory.
December 14, 2017
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: Democrats for School Choice
Guest: Joe Nathan (@JoeNathan9249)
In this podcast, Reality Check with Jeanne Allen features a discussion with guest Joe Nathan, Director of the Center for School Change in St. Paul, Minnesota. Joe has been at the cutting edge of the education choice movement in America, and he helped write the nation’s first charter school law. He’s a prime example of the wide philosophical range of those who embraced choice at the very beginning in the early 1990s. He describes himself as a “Paul Wellstone Democrat” who’s been making common cause with political conservatives in creating real choices and opportunities for lower-income children for whom a good education will changes their lives. Other information referenced on the podcast:
- In praise of strong charter schools Bill Wilson & Joe Nathan
- Alternative Public School Systems Kenneth Clark
- Rights Hero Presses Plan For Schools In Detroit Halimah Abdullah (NYT)
Joe Nathan, Ph.D., helped write the nation’s first charter public school law. Legislators and governors in more than 25 states have asked him to testify and provide information about chartering and other school improvement issues. Nathan has spent the last 44 years as a public school teacher, administrator, parent, researcher and advocate. Parent, student and professional groups have given him a variety of awards for his work as an inner city public school teacher and administrator. For nearly 30 years, he has written a weekly newspaper column in Minnesota focusing on education issues. Since 1988, Nathan has directed the Center for School Change. The Center works at the school, community and policy levels. More about Joe at the Center for School Change…
December 12, 2017
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen: The Associated Press Is Wrong
Guest: Howard Fuller (@HowardLFuller)
Reality Check with Jeanne Allen is a weekly NRO Podcast about transforming education in America. Jeanne is the founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform in Washington, and she’s been on the front lines of the battle for educational choice for more than 25 years. On her first podcast, she talks with Howard Fuller, a professor of education at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and a former Superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools who’s a pioneer in school choice. Among other things, they discuss a new AP “analysis” which purports to show that charter schools “put growing numbers in racial isolation.”
Reality Check in the news and online:
Introducing Reality Check with Jeanne Allen | National Review The Corner Jeanne Allen | December 15, 2017 More…