Sunday, October 18, 2026

ICYMI: Chilling Season Edition (10/18)

We finally got some serious cold here. It will inevitably bounce back, but it is finally sinking in that autumn is here, and I am delighted. It's my favorite season.

A reminder that you can do your part by sharing pieces (particularly from their original source). It's a tough world out there on the interwebs and it takes a lot of sharing to break through the noise and the algorithm, so please take the time to pass on some of these excellent pieces.

In Conversation: Reflections on Sold A Story Season 2 (Ep. 1-2)

Tevor Aleo and Nick Covington have a very useful and illuminating conversation about the first few episodes of Emily Hanford's newest foray into the world of educational haranguing. Read them before you listen to her.

‘Title I for rich kids’ and other predictions for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit

Outstanding look at the federal voucher program from Jon Valant at Brookings. Share it with someone who thinks these things are a good idea (including your favorite governor).


Of course, the only way to preserve freedom is to censor college professors. Adam Serwer writes for The Atlantic about how that's going.

Vouchers are set to get more than half of Miami-Dade’s state per pupil funds

Florida's work for defunding public education is going just super-duper, with more state money going to vouchers than to public schools. Austin Horn covers this for the Miami Herald and even quotes friend of the institute Sue Woltanski.

As Public Schools Struggle, Private Schools That Once Fought Integration Poised for Taxpayer-Funded Windfall

Daniel Mollenkamp writes for The Emancipator about how Tennessee vouchers have been a real boon for segregation academies. 

Parents have always had choice. Donalds opposes guardrails

Crystal Etienne has the nerve to call out Erika Donalds, Florida's privatization queen, as she tried to fend off any sort of basic accountability for Florida voucher schools. 

Back-to-Basics (Again): Lorin Anderson and Essentialism to Understand Knowledge and Direct Instruction

Lots to unpack here, but come for Paul Thomas's explanation of how people are using Bloom's Taxonomy incorrectly (and how he knows what Bloom actually had in mind).

Being a US Consumer Sucks, Yet We’re Turning K-12 into a Consumer Good

Powerful and thorough argument from Anne Lutz Fernandez that just as US consumerism is becoming a mess, privatizers are trying to extend that mess to education. Another must-read on the list this week.

Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Gina Hinojosa Saving Public Schools!

Not all Democratic candidates are good for public schools, but Nancy Bailey explains why Gina Hinojosa might break that trend.

BREAKING: Ohio Appellate Court finds vouchers unconstitutional

Stephen Dyer shares some special moments from the Ohio court's ruling against vouchers.

Have Definitions of ”Success” and “Failure” in U.S. Public Schools Changed?

Well, yes. But Larry Cuban gets into some historical detail on that answer.

Frequent abdominal pain in children associated w/school-related stress/ peer harassment

Johnathan Kantrowitz with some research that will not come as a shock, but still, it's evidence.

Before We Revamp the FEFP, Let’s Understand It

Florida's school funding formula is a mess. I know-- shocking! Sue Kingery Woltanski offers some details about the twists and turns of the process that is over a half-century old.

Deskilling the body

Intriguing and sometimes-technical-in-a-biology-sort-of-way essay by Melanie Challenger that looks at the effects of technology on our body's ability to do stuff (and why it may matter more than you think).

Don’t Trust People Who Talk Like This

Ted Gioia is writing about the tech overlords who want to control all media, but since these are the same tech overlords who want to control education, it's worth including here.

This week at Forbes.com, I got into the Texas school that canceled a production that dared to cast a girl as a guy and point out that this sort of thing happens in school and community theater all the time. 

Rhiannon Gibbons and Silkwood Ensemble have been finding some fascinating overlap between Black roots music and Chinese musical traditions. Just kind of let this wash over you.



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