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Jennifer Berkshire

@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social
4K followers 479 following 597 posts

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: educationwars.substack.com

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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Part of why education has emerged as such a key issue in the Texas gov race is that Abbott has been particularly heavy handed vs schools: vouchers, state takeovers, scripted curriculum, tech in schools, 10 Commandments, vendor contracts www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/o...
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I wrote about how the hollowing out of higher education is hurting rural students. Wisconsin is an extreme cautionary tale but rising inequality and the obsessive focus on ROI are happening everywhere barnraisingmedia.com/gutting-two-...
barnraisingmedia.com
Gutting Two-Year Colleges Leaves Rural Students Behind
Experts warns the demise of Wisconsin’s two-year liberal arts transfer colleges represents the equivalent of “desertification” of education for rural and first-generation students.
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Ernest Luckman @ernieluckman.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The first thing that underfunded schools have cut near me was bussing. It forces parents to drive their kids and get stuck in traffic and it’s driving them all insane.
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DrAnnD @drannd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
So good. So right. "a coalition of the screwed—working-class voters saddled with credit card debt, downwardly mobile college grads burdened by loans that will never pay off." "arguing not that the schools are failing, but that kids and communities are being failed by politicians"
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I've been a broken record on why school vouchers are turning out to be a real liability for the GOP in Texas (and beyond). Nice to see the NYT pick up on this. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The School Policy Scam Turning Voters Blue (Gift Article)
In Texas and Iowa, Democrats are successfully tying universal school vouchers to corruption.
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DrAnnD @drannd.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The cracks in the Texas public ed system are so visible and most ppl are pointing directly at Abbott and the Lege. Families want their schools back. They want the state that brags about the Rainy Day fund to fund public schools. They don’t want endless testing. They rightly blame the GOP.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
If Gina Hinojosa really does succeed in beating Greg Abbott, her support for public education will be a key reason. She 'gets' something that Dem elites and hot takers don't: attacks on public schools are unpopular across party lines
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Recommended weekend listening: vouchers are expanding in West Virginia and small rural schools are closing. Will the GOP pay a price at the polls? soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#225 Canary in a Coalmine
Have You Heard heads to West Virginia, where public schools face a precarious future. As the state’s voucher program expands, the small schools that are the lifeblood of many rural communities are inc
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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I also think the lt. gov or VA, Dr. Ghazala Hashmi, has shown a model for making a proactive case for the humanities. I'd like to see more Dems take up this model. So show people why books matter! Why history matters! Do a tour with some passionate K-12 teachers! cardinalnews.org/2026/09/23/h...
cardinalnews.org
Hashmi goes back to the classroom to talk about some important books
The lieutenant governor, a former literature professor, has created a lecture tour on the intersection of literature and politics.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 02/10/2026
Excellent piece by @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social on the weak Left vision for public education. This extends to higher ed; beyond free tuition and full employment, the Left doesn’t have a program of what content people are supposed to get out of college. educationwars.substack.com/p/whats-left...
educationwars.substack.com
What’s Left for Public Education?
The left has no vision for public schools - and that’s a big problem
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I wrote about why the left has so little to say about public education (and why this is a big problem). educationwars.substack.com/p/whats-left...
educationwars.substack.com
What’s Left for Public Education?
The left has no vision for public schools - and that’s a big problem
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Curious about what data these rogue AI agents were after in the civil rights office of the Education Department. Interesting that the *misaligned model activity* is so aligned with the humans www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/t...
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I went Behind the News to talk about the potent backlash to school vouchers. Give it a listen!
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
How about this? Kids can finally get some decent math teachers, add and subtract when they get to college, and be prepared for STEM & tech careers if we just scoop up STEM & tech professionals being displaced by AI and get them into the classroom
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Jen Jennings @jenjennings.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This piece insightfully unpacks the schism between DeVos' American Federation of Children and what @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social coins "school choice extremists," which, to my eye, are being QBed by orgs like Heritage, Ed Choice, Americans for Prosperity, & Goldwater.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I wrote about the looming crack up in the school voucher coalition. TLDR voters want to see vouchers much more tightly regulated - something Dems and at least one influential school choice org are finally picking up on educationwars.substack.com/p/the-vouche...
educationwars.substack.com
The Voucher Crack-Up is Coming
The politics of ‘education freedom’ are unsustainable
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Ralph Pantozzi @mathillustrated.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“an ideological errand-running program with no accountability paying for the wealthiest families in the state of Iowa to send their kids to the private schools they were going to send them to anyway”
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Mica Pollock @micapollock.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
No matter where you're at politically, this is a must-read from @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social.
newrepublic.com
Why Democrats Must Embrace a “Mom Populist” Education Agenda
Democrats once preached college-for-all, and were too soft on school privatization. They need to reverse course on both these positions—and make an unapologetic case for education as a public good tha...
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Jeff Bryant @jeffbinnc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
While rural rage at data centers is well-reported in media, little attention has been paid to how school vouchers have irked small-town Republican voters, (@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social being an exception).
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
For @newrepublic.com I wrote about why Democrats should embrace 'mom populism.' TLDR Find me a Dem who flipped a GOP seat or is running competitively in a red state and I'll find you a loud opponent of school vouchers.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Dems capitalizing on opposition to school vouchers isn't just an Iowa thing. Which makes sense. If you're a GOP voter who sees vouchers as an expensive giveaway to the rich or a state takeover of private schools, your party no longer represents you. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/06/02/r...
chalkbeat.org
The Democrat betting that school vouchers can be a winning issue in red-state Iowa
Rob Sand is borrowing Republican language about waste and oversight to attack Iowa’s ESA program — and making vouchers central to his campaign for governor.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Weekend listening: Sarasota FL was supposed to be the capital of MAGAmerica, starting with its school board. Then came the revolt of the normies soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#218 When the Circus Came to Town
Sarasota Florida was supposed to be the new capital of Magamerica. But a funny thing happened on the way to making this coastal community and its school board the epicenter of right wing activism. A w
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Education was a big issue in this Michigan special election. Some important lessons here on how education & affordability are starting to intersect 1) running against universal school lunch is a real loser! 2) make [state name] more like Mississippi does not seem to rally voters
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
The future in 2 stories: 1) AI will create a permanent underclass that no amount of college and career readiness can address and 2) school-as-workplace prep will hasten this along
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
One major issue missing from this account of the GOP's struggles in Iowa: school vouchers. The controversial program is expensive, unregulated, and widely seen as a handout to wealthy Iowans. This has created a mess for GOP candidates and an opening for Dems www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
wsj.com
Ruby Red Iowa Backed Trump by 13 Points in 2024. Now It’s a Battleground.
Iowa has trended red for a decade, but Democrats are showing signs of life, and that could help their party reclaim Congress and maybe even a governorship.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
If you live in a red state w/ a voucher program, not only must your elected GOP reps support it (no matter how much of a hole it blows in the budget), but if they try to limit the program in ANY way, they'll be targeted by billionaire school choice PACs. Seems likely to alienate a lot of GOP voters
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
The backlash against edtech is suddenly everywhere - and it's only going to grow. I wrote about why this grassroots revolt is about more than Chromebooks and Khanmigo educationwars.substack.com/p/the-big-te...
educationwars.substack.com
The Big Tech Backlash
Thoughts on what's driving a potent grassroots revolt
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Education Law Center @edlawcenter.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Have you heard? @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social and @jackschneider.bsky.social are presenting during ELC’s Education Justice Lecture on June 3! Register or sponsor using the links below! #webinar #publiceducation #teachertok #fyp #publicschools
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Among the 20K workers Citi is firing: “A.I. Champions and Accelerators” who perform their dayjob while trying to convince their coworkers to adopt AI www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/b...
nytimes.com
Job Cuts Driven by A.I. Are Rising on Wall Street
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K. A. “Kîck Åß” Pillë @keithpille.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
As would my masters thesis on women using DIY comics as a vehicle for establishing identity, now that I look at it
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Sara @saralovesyou.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
My PhD dissertation on public pedagogy and the It Gets Better Project would be prohibited in Texas.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
My PhD dissertation on how the separation of work and home shaped gender identity in 19th century America would have been prohibited in 21st century Texas
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Recommended weekend listening: Silicon Valley's vision for schools is dreary and dystopian. It's also fueling a massive backlash against all things edtech soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#217 Silicon Valley’s Dystopian Vision for Schools
As Silicon Valley’s tentacles reach ever more deeply into the nation’s public schools, a provocative new book sounds an emphatic “stop”! We talk to Tim Scott, author of Schooling for Silicon Valley, a
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Education Law Center @edlawcenter.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Join @haveyouheard.bsky.social Podcasters, Authors and Educators, @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social and @jackschneider.bsky.social, for ELC’s 17th Annual Education Justice Lecture edlawcenter.org/join-podcast...
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
According to that big new profile of ED chief Linda McMahon, the brains behind the new federal school voucher program was west Texas oil billionaire and 'theo-ligarch' Tim Dunn www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats @adamlaats.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social is right on, as usual. Blue-state governors are facing a Boromir moment here. They like to think they can use Trump's scheme for good, but it won't work. It'll siphon money away from public schools.
educationwars.substack.com
The Blue State Voucher Express
The Democrats' pro-voucher wing is pressing blue state governors to embrace Trump's voucher program
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
New episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social: Silicon Valley's vision for public education is both familiar and dystopian. Tim Scott joins us to talk about his urgent new book Schooling for Silicon Valley. Thanks @kevinkumashiro.com for the h/t! soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#217 Silicon Valley’s Dystopian Vision for Schools
As Silicon Valley’s tentacles reach ever more deeply into the nation’s public schools, a provocative new book sounds an emphatic “stop”! We talk to Tim Scott, author of Schooling for Silicon Valley, a
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Want to see how messy the politics of school vouchers are for Dems? Here's likely 2028 candidate Mark Kelly on what a disaster vouchers have been for Arizona. Meanwhile, pro-voucher Dems are in Mass. today to push Gov. Maura Healey to sign onto Trump's voucher plan www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...
azcentral.com
Don't follow Arizona's example. End universal vouchers now | Opinion
Arizona has shown the nation what universal vouchers do to public schools. It's time to put our money toward all students and that's in public school.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I wrote about why the GOP should be worried about that earth-shaking election in Hungary - AND last week's school board races in the US educationwars.substack.com/p/reading-th...
educationwars.substack.com
Reading the Tea Leaves
From Hungary to Tulsa, a key theme is emerging
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
If the Texas GOP loses its grip on the legislature there'll be lots of reasons. But a big & underappreciated one is school vouchers -- deeply unpopular w/ Dems and many conservatives. www.texastribune.org/2026/04/08/t...
texastribune.org
Dan Patrick says GOP will have “tough time” holding Texas House
The lieutenant governor’s remarks are the latest sign that Republicans are worried about the fall midterms. The GOP has controlled the state House since 2003 and currently has an 88-62 advantage.
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Alicia Stoller @aliciastoller.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
There's a striking convergence between the trend away from teaching whole books, described by the teachers in the @haveyouheard.bsky.social piece below, and @hunderdown.bsky.social's observations that a downturn in #KidLit publishing is being driven by declining school and library sales. Yikes.
mailchi.mp
What Is Going on in Children's Publishing? My Thoughts
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Weekend listening: worried about the disappearance of books from schools, heavy-handed literacy policies and the relentless focus on workplace prep? You just may have a case of the blue state blues! soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#216 The Blue State Blues
It isn’t just red states where books are being pulled from schools. In blue states, books have given way to out-of-context passages in the name of test and career prep. Add in new literacy laws that s
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Trevor Aleo @mraleosays.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Clearly something in the water right now in particular. This was my most recent Substack post. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Who Owns High School English?
On communities of practice, corporate capture, and what happens when teachers are cut off from the disciplines they teach
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Trevor Aleo @mraleosays.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Some of my favorite English educators on one of my favorite education podcasts! This is such an important issue. The loss of humanity, intellectual community, & meaning caused by this obsession with maximizing test scores and human capital is/will be devastating to public education in the long term.
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molly @spoudogeloios.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
"Small wonder that adolescents are struggling with nihilism and despair, when we’ve taught them that nothing they do during their six-hour school day can matter for its own sake."
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Jeffrey Austin @jaustinedu.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Huge thanks to @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social for amplifying the conversation about how "blue state" politicians have embraced the corporate, back-to-basics "Make Literacy Technical Again" movement at the expense of a more holistic, compelling, and purposeful vision for education.
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Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
New Have You Heard: we talk to four current and former teachers about what blue states keep getting wrong about public education. @johndownesangus.bsky.social, @jaustinedu.bsky.social, @annieabrams.bsky.social and Nora De La Cour on why they have the blue state blues soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...
soundcloud.com
#216 The Blue State Blues
It isn’t just red states where books are being pulled from schools. In blue states, books have given way to out-of-context passages in the name of test and career prep. Add in new literacy laws that s
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