Tag Archive for: Education K-12

The U.S. Department of Education: Going Forward

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We Now Have an Unparalleled Opportunity Available 

DOEd is involved with K-12, but even more so with higher education*. As attentive readers know, my focus is on K-12. Unfortunately, there is almost universal agreement — with solid evidence — that the US K-12 education system is an abject failure from multiple important perspectives. This is not good for our children (who are the victims), or for America.

The solutions proposed for this have ranged from: a) scrapping the entire K-12 public school system, to b) eliminating DOEd (e.g., here). Although the rationale behind these is understandable, neither of these suggestions are wise, practical, or effective resolutions to the dire situation we are in.

Consider the idea of eliminating DOEd. What we would be left with is fifty (50) State Education Departments. There is scant empirical evidence that much leadership, competence, or creativity regarding K-12 education is coming from any State. A simple example is that 49 (!) of the States robotically approved the inferior NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). (See this Report which itemizes ten serious NGSS issues.)

Another example is that not a single State is formally teaching their K-12 children to be Critical Thinkers. Zero! Where is the K-12 education leadership, competence, or creativity?

Making the necessary reforms to 50 State Education Departments would be an extraordinarily expensive, Herculean project that would take at least twenty years — if ever — to come to fruition. In the meantime, the US would be effectively left with 50 different second-rate education systems. How is that good for the country? Further, who would take on this Sisyphilan task? And who would pay for it?

My recommendation (as an education outsider) is to solve this — affordably, effectively, and relatively quickly — by fundamentally changing DOEd. The idea is that DOEd would become a powerful game-changing force for GOOD (which would be very different from what it has been).

The new Department of Education would properly do major things like:

1 – Redefine its Mission.

Here is the boilerplate pablum that is DOEd’s current mission. Its objective should be upgraded to include something like: “meaningfully assisting States in producing high school graduates who are competent, productive, healthy critical thinkers” (e.g., see this fine piece).

In other words, DOEd should leverage the power and money of the federal government to aggressively assist States in fixing the currently deplorable K-12 education system. (Note: in 2024 the Department had $80± Billion in discretionary funding [out of a $250± Billion budget]. That is a LOT of leverage!)

2 – Get rid of bureaucratic bloat.

Strip down the DOEd to the bare essentials. Right now there are over 4100 employees. How about aiming for 400 — a 90% reduction? Four hundred competent, motivated employees can do a LOT!

3 – Clarify what should be the primary objective of K-12 education.

Assuming that the 3Rs are properly taught, the #1 objective of every State Education System should be to produce Critically Thinking graduates. In other words, DOEd should profoundly change the education system from its current focus on teaching students WHAT to think (and a lot of that is Progressive ideology), to instead teach them HOW to think.

DOEd should make this as a condition for States to receive discretionary money from DOEd. In other words, unless a State can show that their K-12 education curricula is properly teaching students to be Critical Thinkers, they are not eligible for certain DOEd funds.

Since no State is currently doing that, this would revolutionize American education. (Note: presently less than ten even mention Critical Thinking in their Mission statements!)

4 – Investigate what is the most effective methodology of teaching.

In the education business, this is called pedagogy. For example, would the best way to educate our children be to have a classical education program (like here)? Or, would the best way be to adopt the state-of-the-art techniques used by MacKenzie Price in Alpha Schools — covering in 2 hours what traditional schools take 6 hours, and then using the remaining 4 hours to teach other valuable material (like financial management)? Or something else?

DOEd should solicit and evaluate a variety of teaching ideas — and then pass on their findings to the States. What sense does it make for 50 States to do this type of investigation? (Note: almost no States are seriously investigating this.)

5 – Take the lead regarding age-appropriate materials in K-12 schools.

What’s going on regarding materials being in K-12 school classes and libraries (see here and here) is extremely disturbing.

The fundamental problem is that the powerful American Library Association (ALA) does not recognize the issue of age-appropriateness! DOEd should officially go on record endorsing the significance of age-appropriateness in K-12 classes, libraries, and associated matters.

This idea is already societally accepted in the US. A good example is that the rating systems for movies and also for TV are based on age-appropriateness. The movie website says “Established in 1968, the film rating system provides parents with the information needed to determine if a film is appropriate for their children.” Exactly the same thing applies to books being considered for K-12 school classes and libraries!

To make a profound improvement in K-12 education, DOEd should specify that they will not provide certain DOEd funds to a State that does not have an enforced, appropriate official written policy regarding the age-appropriateness of materials associated with their K-12 schools.

Towards that same end, DOEd should aggressively oppose federal legislation that undermines the concept of age-appropriateness — like this.

Although there is some State-related activity on this matter, much of it is coming from outraged parents, rather than the State Departments of Education. Further, the ALA is a powerful national organization, so DOEd would be a much more effective opponent.

6 – Take the lead in defending parental rights.

A national “Parents Bill of Rights” regarding K-12 schools, could be an exceptionally helpful improvement on the country’s public school system. North Carolina has such a law that’s good, but the record in other States is spotty. DOEd can easily set a US standard for this important matter.

7 – Take the lead in the teacher certification issue.

Currently, the education mills are pushing out progressive graduates (e.g., see here) who have few Critical Thinking skills. How can such people be optimum teachers? No State can fix this on their own, but DOEd has the leverage and national influence to likely be able to.

8 – Take the lead in resolving the religion issue in K-12 education.

For some time now the public school system has been in a conflicting situation regarding religion. On the one hand, public schools are bending over backward to not do anything that some activists might claim is a 1st Amendment violation (a federal matter).

On the other hand, US public schools seem to feel obligated to convey morality and ethics (e.g., “discrimination is wrong.”) However, what is right or wrong is a religious [moral] position. Aggressively stepping into this gap are atheism and relativism — which are effectively religions (e.g., see here).

Directly related to this issue is that DOEd should take an official stand against the scourge of SEL that has infested public schools nationwide. SEL is effectively trying to replace Judeo-Christian standards with its own value system. DOEd’s position should be along the lines of this.

So, despite their concerns about not advocating for any religion, that is exactly what public schools are doing. DOEd should research and take a position on this exceptionally important issue, as (again) no States are doing that.

The Bottom Line —

All of the current K-12 education system’s weaknesses are being taken advantage of by anti-American, Left-leaning ideology advocates. The corruption of the K-12 Science curricula is a perfect example of how American students are being Pied Pipered to a woefully inadequate education.

Worse — MUCH WORSE — is that most of these miseducated graduates soon become voting citizens. What is our future if it is being determined by citizens who have no Critical Thinking skills, and have been thoroughly propagandized by Left-leaning ideology???

This clearly says that leaving our children’s education up to 50 different States IS NOT WORKING — and will likely NEVER WORK!

An updated DOEd should step into this void and provide constructive and effective K-12 education leadership. Now is the time to do exactly that!

*See this superior new Report on DOEd, with an emphasis on Higher Ed.

Note: The best chance we have for substantially reforming DOEd, is to have a quality collection of “outsiders” (outside the education establishment) participating in the process. People who have few pre-conceived ideas of what can and can not be done are more likely to be advancing the most creative improvements.

©2025 All rights reserved.

References:

Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the State where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?

In a Country ‘Based on Merit,’ DEI Looks at Everything but Merit: Experts

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There have been rumors of President Donald Trump’s plans to abolish the Department of Education (DOE) — which is something he said he would do during his campaign in an effort to return education policy back to the states. This comes after years of parents and observers complaining of left-wing ideologies infiltrating the education system in the U.S. And while this proposal has yet to gain serious traction, Trump has taken action to remove as much LGBT and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) related programs as he can from both the DOE and the federal government at large.

Just this week, news broke that dozens of DOE employees have already been put on paid leave as a result of Trump’s executive orders effectively weeding out DEI from the federal government. According to the Associated Press, Sheria Smith, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, stated that it’s unclear how many workers were put on leave or for what reasons. These alleged cuts come as Trump’s administration is empowering the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk primarily meant to cut wasteful spending.

When it comes to DEI, Trump made promises long ago to tackle it head on. And it’s no wonder, as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins explained, because “the Left’s fixation on DEI” has been rejected by the vast majority of Americans.

On Monday’s “Washington Watch,” Perkins was joined by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) to discuss DEI and its consequential impact on American society. “[A]fter all that’s happened,” Perkins stated, “even [with] the election [outcome] and the rejection of their agenda, they still don’t seem to get it.” Owens agreed. As he emphasized, “this is why they lost. They can continue to lose. Americans are tired of this” DEI agenda because America “is a country based on merit.”

Owens went on to explain how it’s those on the Left who “have started putting in place a policy [in which] they’re not looking at merit at all. They’re looking at everything else — [skin color], gender, things that make no difference.” And yet, for most, he argued, “the minute you get into a position where you’re getting on an airplane, getting in a car, [or] getting in a taxi … we want the very best to be in control of that process,” and that’s what “we’re getting back to” as Trump and his administration work to get rid of DEI.

In addition, Owens noted that, for similar reasons, “that’s why … we got rid of affirmative action, because that was also a very racist [and] very demeaning ideology … when it came down to black Americans and their ability to think.” Ultimately, he added, “we’re going to get to the bottom of” these agendas. But moving forward, “I’m so thankful for the fact that all this stuff is being pulled out from the roots from our government. And we’re going to be putting the same process into our school system, teaching merit and making sure we’re holding people to the highest standards.” Once we do this, Owens emphasized, “Americans will stand up.”

Perkins highlighted how the push for DEI has some notable inconsistencies. For instance, he explained how the push for DEI in the government is not pushed nearly the same in a field such as athletics. “[Y]ou were a professional football player,” Perkins said to Owens. “[W]ould DEI work on the football field?” According to Owens, not only does DEI not work on the football field, but “to that point, isn’t it interesting that DEI is not put into athletics and is not put into sports?” That’s because “in sports you expect to win, so you put the very best talent on the team. … [T]he point I’m making [is that] they don’t mind [pushing DEI] when it comes down to intellectual stuff.” But “when it comes down to athletics, where we have to show … strength, then they” seem to back off somewhat.

“I’m not a huge sports fan,” Perkins added, but when it comes to the impact of DEI, “I think it’s more important that an airplane lands safely than someone win a Super Bowl football game.” And “when Americans get on to a plane or they get onto a train or whatever it might be, they expect it to do its very best to arrive at its destination. And the individuals directing it, driving it, flying it ought to be best qualified. Period.”

According to Owens, DEI fundamentally undermines American principles. “[A]cross the board, our country is based on merit. That’s how we respect each other. That’s how we command respect.” And yet, at its core, DEI “is a true racist thing” that throws merit out the window. As Owens concluded, “I’m just glad we’re pulling away from this and getting back to what really matters.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand coloumn is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Explaining the Importance of Critical Thinking in K-12 Education

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We can’t succeed here if we can’t convincingly explain WHY this is important. 

I’ve talked a LOT about Critical Thinking here. I tend to think this matter (and its importance) is self-evident — but how do we explain all that to someone else?

Let’s say you are talking to a state legislator who is on your state’s K-12 education committee. You are trying to convey to them why properly teaching Critical Thinking in K-12 should be a top priority not only of the legislative education committee, but of all state legislators.

Below I’ve drafted up a logical outline of how to educate this individual.

Note 1: this can be used with anyone who does not understand the importance of Critical Thinking to our children and our society.

Note 2: this explanation assumes that the person you are communicating with has a certain amount of competence plus an interest in the topic.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if something needs further clarification…

Let’s start with understanding our opponents.

The Number One fear of anti-Americans on the Left is to have Critically Thinking citizens. As a result, they have gone to GREAT lengths to minimize that from happening.

An essential part of defeating an adversary is to thoroughly understand their goals. In this case, it is to minimize the number of critically thinking citizens. Their sophisticated (and proven) plan is to make that happen in K-12 education.

FYI, regarding K-12 education, the Left’s perspective is quite different from the Right’s, in two major ways:

a) They are playing the Long Game. They have no problem implementing and adhering to a Plan that might take 20+ years to come to fruition. (Those on the Right are primarily involved in actions that produce much quicker results.)

b) They ascribe to Aristotle’s view: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” (Those on the Right are paying almost zero attention to the corrupted K-12 curricula.)

Now that we have those understandings, here is an outline of our explanation…

Explanation: Part 1

We start with the definition of what Critical Thinking is. (Note: there are other definitions out there, but this seems to get at the nub of the issue! (If you are aware of a better one, please forward it ASAP.)

Explanation: Part 2

We then need to fully appreciate the exceptional benefits of being a Critical Thinker. (Note: to my knowledge, no one else has put together such a list! If you are aware of one, please forward it ASAP.)

Explanation: Part 3

Another key understanding is the “properly” taught part of teaching CT. I tried to provide a more detailed explanation of what that entails, here [A: (3)-(9)]. (Again, to my knowledge, no one else has addressed this essential part. As before, if you are aware of one, please forward it ASAP.)

Explanation: Part 4

Next, it is imperative to understand that the US K-12 system is not in a vacuum regarding Critical Thinking where it is just not being taught. The reality is that the direct OPPOSITE of Critical Thinking is currently being taught in 49 states via the NGSS. (See full explanation here.)

In other words, children are specifically being taught to be conformists — i.e., to defer to authority, to adhere to what is politically correct, to accept consensus views, to not question computer projections, etc., etc. All of these are effectively saying “Shut up and go along.” That is what the Left’s main objective is: to have compliant, unquestioning citizens.

Explanation: Part 5

Lastly, we need to fully understand the societal implications here. In the US, every year some four million students graduate from high school. A conservative estimate is that at least 75% of them not only do NOT know how to think critically, but they have been purposefully propagandized.

When we think about what this means, the implications of this are frightening. The most problematic consequence is that most of these graduates soon become voting citizens. In other words, our K-12 school system is producing 3± million new voters EVERY YEAR who not only are unable to think critically about societal matters but have been taught to robotically support whatever the Left-leaning ideology of the day is.

So that is my 5-Part strategy of explaining the basics and the importance of Critical Thinking to a State Legislator or any other seriously interested person. If you have suggested improvements, please share in the comments below…

Postscript —

I (and a few others) are trying to stop this K-12-originated tsunami. For example, we are now supporting a Conservative candidate for Superintendent of North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction: Michele Morrow.

She is not part of the education establishment, but rather a nurse and a mom who home-schooled her five children. She is fully onboard with genuinely teaching Critical Thinking, opposing SEL, etc.

The Left full well knows that Michele’s election would be a body blow to their efforts to propagandize the US K-12 education system — so they published attacks against her within minutes of her winning the GOP primary in March (against the heavily favored incumbent).

If you live in NC (or know anyone who does), voting in the upcoming election is an extraordinary opportunity to make a major dent in the Left’s campaign to undermine America via our K-12 education system. No matter where you live, please consider donating to support this courageous woman.

©2024. John Droz, Jr. All rights reserved.

Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up for new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?

Education: Content and Competencies

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The two main components of K-12 education 

When we think of K-12 education, most people envision children learning things like math, science, geography, history, etc. These are called Content subjects.

In addition, there is also a separate category of subjects called Competencies. Another word for competencies is skills. Some basic skills that are expected to be taught in K-12 are the ability to read and to write.

Note that in certain cases a subject area can have overlaps. For example, learning math content is interwoven with learning math competencies (e.g., learning how to add two numbers in your head).

This all sounds simple enough, but the devil is in the details…

A few words about Content —

Exactly who determines what the taught content is?

The Left is very aware of this enormous opportunity, so has gone to great lengths over the last few decades to aggressively and thoroughly control the content our children are being taught — i.e., the curricula.

A few of many examples where the WHAT (content) is extremely important are:

  • WHAT is the truth about the origins of the universe?
  • WHAT is the truth about evolution?
  • WHAT is the truth about climate change?
  • WHAT is the truth about our energy options?
  • WHAT is the truth about American history?

In some of these matters, we do not definitively know the answer. In such situations, this should be clearly acknowledged — and the children should be comprehensively and objectively informed about the various alternatives. Students should then be encouraged to use Critical Thinking to arrive at their own conclusions.

None of that is happening in US public schools. Instead, the curricula convey one-sided stories, falsely making them seem like Facts — when they actually are disguised progressive ideology.

Inexplicably, those on the Right have paid MUCH LESS attention to curricula. In doing so they have effectively ceded WHAT our children are being taught to Marxists and worse. The consequences of this neglect to our children and our nation are extraordinarily bad — and we are seeing the results of this every day.

A few words about Competencies —

Who is it that determines what competencies are taught, and how? Again the Left has aggressively stepped in to control these. Think Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

There are several competencies that K-12 children would benefit from being properly taught. The North Carolina Portrait of a Graduate has a superior list:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Communication
  • Personal Responsibility
  • Collaboration
  • Flexibility
  • Empathy
  • Learner’s Mindset

The problem in NC (and in all other states) is that none of these are formally and properly integrated into the curricula, with the possible exception of empathy: SEL. (However, SEL has become a cover for a LOT more than empathy — e.g., see here.) Once again the Left is out-maneuvering the Right, as conservatives are paying way too little attention to the curricula (content and competencies).

Arguably the most important K-12 competency is the ability and interest to do Critical Thinking. The benefits are simply astounding — e.g., see my Report. Regretfully, based on what I could find, not a single State formally and properly teaches K-12 students how to be Critical Thinkers.

What this means is that Left is invited to fill this void: so they come in and teach the opposite of Critical Thinking: conformity. And that is exactly what they are doing!

Conformity is carefully and surreptitiously conveyed to K-12 students in many ways: adhere to what is currently deemed to be politically correct, defer to experts, go along with consensus views, accept what computer projections tell us — all without asking questions.

Summary —

A good question that arises is: which is more important to properly teach our children: Content or Competencies? Both are important, and both must be done right.

However, our current K-12 education system is just focused on teaching Content — and that means Content dictated by the Left. What limited Competencies are taught are likewise carefully controlled by the Left.

This needs to stop. Yesterday.

PS — One person who unequivocally gets this and is in a tight race to be in a position of power to actually make it happen, is Michele Morrow. Please support her, because if she wins it will have profoundly beneficial national consequences…

©2024. John Droz, Jr. All rights reserved.

Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?

Pandemic ‘Learning Loss’ Actually Reveals More About Schooling Than Learning

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The alleged “learning loss” now being exposed is more reflective of the nature of forced schooling rather than how children actually learn.

There are mounting concerns over profound learning loss due to prolonged school closures and remote learning. New data released last week by the US Department of Education reveal that fourth-grade reading and math scores dropped sharply over the past two years.

Fingers are waving regarding who is to blame, but the alleged “learning loss” now being exposed is more reflective of the nature of forced schooling rather than how children actually learn.

The current hullabaloo over pandemic learning loss mirrors the well-worn narrative regarding “summer slide,” in which children allegedly lose knowledge over summer vacation. In 2017, I wrote an article for Boston NPR stating that there’s no such thing as the summer slide.

Students may memorize and regurgitate information for a test or a teacher, but if it has no meaning for them, they quickly forget it. Come high school graduation, most of us forget most of what we supposedly learned in school.

In his New York Times opinion article this week, economist Bryan Caplan makes a related point: “I figure that most of the learning students lost in Zoom school is learning they would have lost by early adulthood even if schools had remained open. My claim is not that in the long run remote learning is almost as good as in-person learning. My claim is that in the long run in-person learning is almost as bad as remote learning.”

Learning and schooling are completely different. Learning is something we humans do, while schooling is something done to us. We need more learning and less schooling.

Yet, the solutions being proposed to deal with the identified learning loss over the past two years promise the opposite. Billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds are being funneled into more schooling and school-like activities, including intensive tutoring, extended-day learning programs, longer school years, and more summer school. These efforts could raise test scores, as has been seen in Texas where students receive 30 hours of tutoring in each subject area in which they have failed a test, but do they really reflect true learning?

As we know from research on unschoolers and others who learn in self-directed education settings, non-coercive, interest-driven learning tends to be deep and authentic. When learning is individually-initiated and unforced, it is not a chore. It is absorbed and retained with enthusiasm because it is tied to personal passions and goals.

Certainly, many children have been deprived of both intellectual and social stimulation since 2020, as lockdowns and other pandemic policies kept them detached from their larger communities. I wrote back in September 2020 that these policies were damaging an entire generation of kids, and urged parents to do whatever possible to ensure that their children had normal interactions with the wider world.

Children who were not able to have those interactions will need more opportunities now to play and explore and discover their world. It is through this play, exploration, and discovery that they will acquire and expand their intellectual and social skills. This is best facilitated outside of a conventional classroom, not inside one.

“What we need is less school, not more,” writes Boston College psychology professor Peter Gray. “Kids need more time to play and just be kids. Mother nature designed kids to play, explore, and daydream without adult intervention because that is how kids develop the skills, confidence, and attitudes necessary for mental health and overall wellbeing.”

Fortunately, non-coercive schooling alternatives are becoming more widely available. My latest Forbes article describes an Illinois public middle school science teacher, Josh Pickel, who quit his job this summer to open a new self-directed microschool. As Pickel wondered: “What if we removed coercion and those kids were allowed to focus their energy and their intellect on things they care about?”

The start of this new school year brings with it greater education possibilities, including those like Pickel’s that enable children to joyfully explore content they care about, in pursuit of goals that matter to them, leading to genuine learning retained for years to come.

We can criticize school shutdowns and affirm that they never should have happened, while also recognizing that imposing more schooling is not the solution to presumed pandemic-era learning loss. It might raise test scores, but it’s unlikely to lead to true learning. Only freedom can do that.

Like this story? Click here to sign up for the LiberatED newsletter and get education news and analysis like this from Senior Education Fellow Kerry McDonald in your inbox every week.

AUTHOR

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and host of the weekly LiberatED podcast. She is also the author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019), an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, education policy fellow at State Policy Network, and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. You can sign up for her weekly email newsletter here.

RELATED ARTICLE: Heritage Foundation Ranks Florida No. 1 in Education Freedom

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Why This East Coast State Is Becoming a Hub of Education Entrepreneurship

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New Jersey education entrepreneurs are embracing an ethos of permission less innovation, creating new learning solutions that work well for children and others in their communities rather than trying to change an entrenched traditional school system.

When Ben Ashfield and Tammy Tiranasar couldn’t find their preferred educational environment for their two younger children, they decided to build it. Ben works in advertising and Tammy is an artist, but first and foremost they are entrepreneurial parents who want the best for their children. Last fall, the couple took over a vacated classroom space in Mountainside, New Jersey, and created The Village Electric as a full-day, co-learning center for local children ages two to twelve, open five days a week. They launched with 45 kids and several teachers.

This year, their program continues to thrive, but Ben and Tammy aren’t content with creating just one alternative learning model that satisfies their family’s needs. They want their space to become an incubator for many other entrepreneurial parents and teachers who wish to build microschools and co-learning communities of their own.

“The benefit of The Village Electric is making it easier to get involved in education and to innovate in education,” said Ben, likening his vision to that of WeWork and related coworking spaces that help to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing. I talked with Ben and Tammy on this week’s episode of the LiberatED podcast.

“We felt we could benefit from creating a community for kids where we are working together, but it’s also a place for entrepreneurial teachers to start their vision of what school can be,” Ben continued. “It’s a place for people to start co-ops if they’re homeschoolers. It’s a place where homeschoolers can find community on their schedule. It’s a place where people can do their online learning except do it in a community of people learning other things. I would love to see an explosion of innovation happening like what you saw in Silicon Valley 15 years ago where people are trying lots of different things.”

Over the past two years, the Garden State has emerged as an ideal spot to pursue education entrepreneurship and invent a variety of schooling alternatives. You may recall my conversation earlier this year with Jill Perez, a long-time teacher and supervisor of student-teachers at the university level, who created a “pandemic pod” in 2020 with other New Jersey families. She then shifted that into a full-fledged microschool last fall, opening with more than 40 students, along with teachers she recruited from the New York City public schools. She recently purchased a building for her microschool and her program continues to grow.

Similarly, last spring I spoke with Lorianne Bolotin, an immigrant physician and midwife who never thought she would be in the education business until school closures prompted her to homeschool her children. Like Jill, she created a pod with local families and turned that into an established microschool in leased commercial space in a New Jersey office park. Her program also continues to expand and evolve, including her efforts to support a network of similar microschools across the country.

What is it about New Jersey that is making it a developing hub of education entrepreneurship and creative learning options? Certainly prolonged school closures and related pandemic policies contributed to more families exiting district schools for private education options, including homeschooling. New Jersey public schools experienced lengthy closures and reopened with mask mandates and other policies that frustrated some parents. The New Jersey Department of Education reported that the state’s traditional public schools lost a record 18,000 students during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years, reflecting a larger trend in declining public school enrollment nationwide since 2020. Enrollment declines were steepest in school districts that remained closed longer and relied more on remote learning, as well as those that kept mask mandates, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute.

New Jersey is also one of the least restrictive states for homeschooling, with no notification requirement for parents who want to homeschool their children, and few regulations. This ease of homeschooling has contributed to the proliferation of microschools, learning centers, and similar schooling alternatives, and all of the New Jersey microschools I have spotlighted this year operate as full-time, drop-off programs for homeschoolers. Some also offer part-time options as well. This enables families to be integrally involved with their children’s education while providing the flexibility for parents to continue working full-time and allowing their children to have a consistent peer group and ongoing academic enrichment.

These New Jersey microschools also tend to be less costly than other private schools in the state. For example, The Village Electric’s annual tuition is $10,500 for a full-day, Monday through Friday program, while the average New Jersey private school tuition is 42 percent higher than that. If New Jersey adopted school choice policies like those in Arizona and West Virginia that enable education funding to follow students instead of going to school districts, then microschools and similar learning communities would be accessible to even more families.

Some New Jersey microschools, including The Village Electric, are recipients of microgrants from VELA Education Fund, a non-profit organization that provides funding to non-traditional education organizations and schooling alternatives. VELA grant recipients frequently use their funds to help provide scholarships and tuition assistance to families who need it.

New Jersey education entrepreneurs are embracing an ethos of permissionless innovation, creating new learning solutions that work well for their children and others in their communities rather than trying to change an entrenched traditional school system. “As parents, we need to exercise our right to educate our children in the way that we think they need to be educated, and not ask for permission for that,” said Ben. “If you’re going to your school board and fighting with your public school, while I so appreciate that and understand that, we also need to just exercise our right to educate our children. That’s what inspired Tammy and me. We asked: How can we do something productive where we don’t feel like we’re wasting our energy trying to change something that really has no interest in changing?”

More entrepreneurial parents and educators in New Jersey and beyond are asking, and answering, that question.

AUTHOR

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and host of the weekly LiberatED podcast. She is also the author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019), an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, education policy fellow at State Policy Network, and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. You can sign up for her weekly email newsletter here.

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