Jeff is director of the Education Opportunity Network. He owns a marketing and communications consultancy in Chapel Hill, NC, and has written extensively about public education policy. Follow Jeff on Twitter at @jeffbcdm.
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Jeff Bryant
Can Community Organizing Improve Schools?
“At a time when we’re at a low-point for our democracy, it’s the only tool for people without power to make some kind of impact,” says Susan Zeig, filmmaker. Read more
Gage Skidmore
In Louisville, a Web of Private Interests Conspire to Expand Charter Schools
Members of the Kentucky Board of Education have allied with corporate interests to privatize education, including involvement in potential real estate deals. Read more
Is Louisville Ground Zero in the Fight for Democratic Control of Public Schools?
The takeover of Jefferson County Public Schools is not a contest between ‘red vs. blue,’ but of whether democracy matters at all. Read more
U.S. Air Force/Kathleen D. Bryant
Scott Walker’s Gubernatorial Opponent Will be the Democrat Who Embraces Public Education
Tony Evers leads in polls among the slew of Democratic candidates vying to take on Walker. But is he pro-public school enough to win? Read more
Natalie Maynor
Will the State Takeover of Jackson Schools be ‘Better Together’ or the Same Old Education Politics?
A familiar story of public school 'failure' and state seizure is playing out in Jackson, Mississippi. Can the city overcome its racist past to find a better ending? Read more
Gage Skidmore
Betsy DeVos’s ‘Shining Example’—A Charter Closed for Poor Performance
Betsy DeVos doesn't care about how charters and vouchers are performing, because there is no place for public education in her worldview or political agenda. Read more
Pexels
Lessons from North Carolina: How Charter Schools Force ‘Zero-Sum’ Education
The Tar Heel state shows how charter schools turn education funding into a contest that divides communities and segregates students. Read more
Brad Flickinger
Beware the Back-to-School Stories Celebrating Online Education
These stories often spotlight benefits for special cases but rarely consider the broader picture. Read more
YouTube
Wanted: Strong Candidates Who Believe in Public Schools
So far, all I see is a gaggle of ambitious career politicians who voice their “support” of public education, but generally have voted to undermine our state’s public school system. Read more
Daniel Case
Is Back-to-School Season More Expensive? Yes, and Here’s Why.
Teachers spend an average of almost $500 a year out of their own pockets on school supplies, and one in ten spend $1,000 or more. Read more
A Southern California District Resists Bad Education Policy
In 2015, the most recent year measured, 100 percent of Millikan’s Latino and economically disadvantaged students graduated, along with 96 percent of white and 95 percent of black students. Read more
John Stavely
Betsy DeVos Wants to Take Money From Poor Kids and Give it to Schools That Could Discriminate Against Them
Trump’s education budget cuts $9.2 billion of federal outlays to public schools, and eliminates twenty-two programs - But Betsy DeVos claims her department's budget prioritizes “what’s working.” Read more
March to Springfield
Fed Up with a Budget Crisis, Illinois Citizens Take to the Streets
About a dozen marchers, ranging in age from twenty-three to ninety, are marching 200 miles to the state capital in the hopes of budging Illinois lawmakers out of an almost two-year-long logjam over the state budget. Read more
Erie Pennsylvania’s Schools Are a Canary in the Coal Mine of Education
Erie, Pennsylvania schools’ plight is the heartbreaking reality for school districts across the country. But, it’s a story anyone who cares about students needs to hear. Read more
Joe Brusky
School Vouchers Are a “False Road,” and the Data Proves It
Recent research reveals that students who use school vouchers fare significantly worse than their public school peers. But who is reading the data? Read more
So We Have DeVos. Now What? Educators Respond.
Opposition to her nomination was important. What happens next matters even more. Read more
Victoria Pickering
Will DeVos Lose Her Nomination for Secretary of Ed?
Perhaps even Republicans can’t embrace the idea of public education as a “business.” Read more
Victoria Pickering
Senators Can Still Toss DeVos
Students, teachers, parents, and public school advocates object to her conflicts of interest, dark money connections and, oh yeah, her utter lack of familiarity with public education. Read more
The Carolina Coup and the Fight for Public Education
The trend for nearly thirty years has been that Democrats compromise with Republicans on education, with dire consequences for our democracy. Read more
Education Advocacy in the Time of Trump
Public education advocates prepare for the upcoming administration. Read more
