Gretchen Conley

Photos: See No Kings protests around the country People gathered for pro-democracy protests across the country today.

Photos: See No Kings protests around the country

www.npr.org/sections/the...

The white rural reckoning Trump is betraying the very voters who put him back in power.

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...

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.

"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...

You Are Going to Have to Tell Them the Truth Speaking in the Heartland

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’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

This story is fucking bonkers

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.

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.

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...

They're stealing from public services now, so they can privatize those services to steal more from you in the future.

Listen to Jack Schneider’s generous, thoughtful letter to a Trump voter about the future of public education.

#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

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...

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.

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...

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’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'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!

The Coffee Shop Encounter A small town libertarian

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...

Benton Park in St. Louis, MO.

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.

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

Important thread on the importance of public schools to people in rural areas, and how vouchers will undermine those schools.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

YouTube video by Harvard Education Press Josh Cowen Delves into Takeaways from The Privateers

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?...

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.

Most Texas school board candidates who support book bans lost their elections