On January 8, NEPC published my essay Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle over Educational Goals as its blog post of the day. nepc.colorado.edu/blog/public-...

I recently did a podcast for the Natural Rural Education Association on a law review I co-authored on the creation of "education preserves," which would protect rural school districts from voucher and charter school expansion. Here is the podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

When voters repeatedly vote down voucher initiatives but their governor invites them in... Welner & Gebhardt do the easy lifting of explaining why that's not a good thing. coloradosun.com/2025/12/16/o...

This @chalkbeat article says NC Gov Stein announced his intention to opt into the voucher program. In fact, he vetoed a bill to do so & said he intends to opt in only after Trump's Treasury "issues sound guidance." He's waiting to see if the regs give NC flexibility www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...

My deep dive on the latest attempt to open a religious charter school…with its for-profit operator in the shadows. @dianeravitch.bsky.social @nepc.bsky.social @floridaea.bsky.social dianeravitch.net/2025/12/01/c...

Two NEPC talks, on screen-time reduction and Christian nationalism, are now available online. @jonsawyer.org @kevinkumashiro.com bit.ly/4ijOnkn

So-called “education preserves” would protect rural communities at risk of losing their public schools to school choice sprawl. @drprestongreen.bsky.social @cmsaldana.bsky.social @schoolfinance101.bsky.social bit.ly/48oNmUy

In this month's NEPC Talks Education podcast, Julie Marsh and James Bridgeforth discuss the unprecedented challenges facing California school board members and how they navigate today's complex political landscape @juliemarsh.bsky.social @cmsaldana.bsky.social bit.ly/3X2Att2

I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the impact of Christian Nationalism on public education at this year’s NEPC Fellows Meeting. Especially grateful for Kevin Kumashiro’s work and insights on this topic. @kevinkumashiro.com

New policy memo from the Freedom to Learn Collective highlights research needs in the wake of fear-based politics and well-funded networks that threaten public schools. bit.ly/43UanMq

Hosts Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram speak with Dr. Kevin Burke, co-author of the first-of-its-kind NEPC report Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the U.S., about how faith is reshaping public schools and what it means for church-state separation. youtu.be/3b0Nx2bazCQ

I do think that there are very few factors pushing on public education as much and as persistently as Christian nationalism, so I appreciated the opportunity to write with Kevin Burke about the issue. I do ALSO appreciate the really great support and editorial work from the NEPC team.

And listen to brief co-author Kevin Burke, on the Faithful Politics (@faithfulpolitics.bsky.social) podcast, discussing Christian Nationalism in education & the brief. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

New policy brief warns of growing efforts to reshape schools around White Christian nationalist ideology. @heidihadley.bsky.social bit.ly/4qJ0CKT

New NEPC Review: School Choice Wisconsin report’s conclusions about the cost effectiveness of private school vouchers rest on invalid methods and inaccurate data. @schoolfinance101.bsky.social bit.ly/3LcGsZB

Members of the National Academy of Education drew upon a consensus study to question the Trump administration’s proposal to prioritize the funding of programs that emphasize so-called “patriotic education.” bit.ly/3LntMPs

It was an honor to interview @dlabaree.bsky.social for this month’s @nepc.bsky.social podcast. I’ve learned so much from Professor Labaree’s writing, and it was a real treat to learn from him through our conversation about recent shifts in education policy. If you have a few mins, give it a listen!

NEPC Talks Education: This month's podcast explores the challenges of navigating education's competing goals, with @cmsaldana.bsky.social and @dlabaree.bsky.social bit.ly/3KUg2vs

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” invites Treasury Department regulations that will leave states vulnerable to federal overreach, diminished protections for students, and steep academic declines tied to voucher expansion. bit.ly/434xcN9

Governors Beware: The Voucher Advocates in DC Are Not Serious About Returning Education to the States @nepc.bsky.social nepc.colorado.edu/publication/...

“The growing influence of rightist movements, and especially Christian Nationalism, on educational policies and practices threatens all too many of the gains that have been made…” Read more, and please share this incredible report by @kevinkumashiro.com www.kevinkumashiro.com/schooltimes

“The growing influence of rightist movements, and especially Christian Nationalism, on educational policies and practices threatens all too many of the gains that have been made…” Read more, and please share this incredible report by @kevinkumashiro.com www.kevinkumashiro.com/schooltimes

New interactive report from @kevinkumashiro.com follows the threads of Christian Nationalism from the Colonial Era to the present day, explaining how we got to this point and helping us think through how we can move forward. Highly recommended! www.kevinkumashiro.com/schooltimes

Kind of surreal when your worlds collide. @jonsawyer.org congrats on the reference! www.kevinkumashiro.com/schooltimes

Without getting into the fray of justifying the unjustifiable, I want to note that we need serious, thoughtful grappling with how LGBTQ+ identifying young people (whether visible or not) are navigating today’s volatile religiopolitical climate. The scapegoating must stop: the learning must begin.

For those interested in the growth of ESA vouchers and the new federal push for vouchers by Trump and Congressional Republicans, please read this thread about the important new voucher study & the NYT article about that study. reachcentered.org/publications...

In this Q&A, Scott Skinner-Thompson, Bethy Leonardi, and Sara Staley explain the implications of Mahmoud v. Taylor, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision siding with parents who asserted faith-based reasons for opting their children out of reading books about LGBTQ-related topics. bit.ly/3JSzJmY

Fears Grow That Trump Will Cut Special Education Support Funding www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Supreme Court May Soon Consider Overturning 45-Year Precedent www.newsweek.com/supreme-cour...

As Congress passed federal voucher legislation last week, a new study offers insights into how such programs might—or might not—impact the racial demographics of private schools. @bryanmann.bsky.social‬ bit.ly/44CcPqC

I shall henceforth think about everything we are witnessing around Christian nationalism, policy and the law as the “puritan mistake”

I shall henceforth think about everything we are witnessing around Christian nationalism, policy and the law as the “puritan mistake”

James Madison is rolling in his grave. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

James Madison is rolling in his grave. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

School choice in the “big beautiful bill” creates “a tax shelter that provides wealthy individuals with an avenue for avoiding capital gains taxes. It’s not the donors who fund this program. It’s taxpayers—and they are likely subsidizing wealthy individuals...” www.brookings.edu/articles/the...

Excellent points here from @joannalefebvre.bsky.social. Addition: While federal civil rights laws broadly apply to schools receiving federal $$, the bill creates an apparent exception for this neovoucher funding for private schools. So: taxpayer-funded discrimination. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Kids and their public schools will be hurt by impounding Congressionally authorized funds for students and by federal vouchers. But don't forget that kids will also be hurt by Medicaid & SNAP cuts, and by traumatizing immigration raids. So these lawsuits are impt -- even though SCOTUS lies in wait.

If you’re looking for a book on religion and public education in the US, I can’t recommend this one enough. I’m assigning it for an undergrad class I’m teaching in the fall on the history of American public education. It leaves no stone unturned, and it is super reader friendly for an academic book.

A pleasure to be quoted here in an important column from @jkennethwhite.bsky.social @thehill.com. thehill.com/opinion/immi...

In part raised in the Pentecostal tradition, I was seven years old when I heard Swaggart’s tearful confession. A moments from my childhood that I recall vividly. Condolences to his family and to all for whom his passing surfaces a bit of discomforting nostalgia. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/u...

My gut reaction to Mahmoud v. Taylor (on LGBTQ opt outs) is that the majority justices have reflected far too little on the democratic purposes of public schools. The shield of religious freedom is wielded for almost anything, and everything these days. 1/2

Powerful start to the dissent in the case about opting out on LGBTQ+ topics in public schools. Someone gets it on the Court, but far too few.

Still waiting for the Supreme Court case about the religious freedom of LGBTQ parents to opt their children out of curriculum pushing heterosexual ideology.

How Rural Schools Are Faring Under Trump www.edweek.org/leadership/h...

Proud to have participated. aarweb.org/news/the-bla...

This is a smart thread, connecting a lot of dots between the conflict in the Middle East and all the God talk coming out of the White House.

I've read a lot of articles (and been interviewed for several) about Vance Boelter's ties to charismatic Christianity, but this piece by @melissagiragrant.com in @newrepublic.com is the best I've seen so far in sifting the evidence while capturing the nuances. newrepublic.com/article/1969...

I was raised, in part, in charismatic/Pentecostal/early NAR churches. I understand the radicalization argument (ie, spiritual war turns into real violence), but we also need more attention to the psychological fracturing people experience in some of these groups. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I was raised, in part, in charismatic/Pentecostal/early NAR churches. I understand the radicalization argument (ie, spiritual war turns into real violence), but we also need more attention to the psychological fracturing people experience in some of these groups. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

One aspect of Vance Boelter story that I haven’t seen yet: NAR and charismatic practices of “spiritual warfare” are psychologically fracturing. The extreme dualism/compartmentalization can lead to violent actions. I’m too busy to write an op ed on this angle, but someone should run with it.