Jeff Bryant
@jeffbinnc.bsky.social
Chief correspondent Our Schools, an education media project of the Independent Media Institute and lead fellow Public School Advocate at The Progressive Magazine. Texas native now based in Chapel Hill, NC. Website: https://edpolitics.org/
New report by @network4pubed.bsky.social reveals that state lawmakers who've voted to under-fund public schools have also rolled out private alternatives like charter schools and vouchers.The result is disastrous for children and families. @carolburris.bsky.social progressive.org/public-schoo...
‘School Choice’ Does Not Provide Better Education for All Families
Voucher and charter school programs are taking funds that could make our public schools stronger.
progressive.org
"charged with a count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds" #CharterSchoolFail
Network for Public Education@network4pubed.bsky.social · 3w agoFEDS: Charter school supervisor cashed in on uniform fees, spent money on cars and trips www.wafb.com/2026/07... #AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal
Company that sells "digital land" and owns a firm marketing "hyper-realistic" sex dolls lands a contract with a rural NY school district to station a robot teacher's aid named "Sally" in a high school classroom. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n...
Rural NY School To Launch Humanoid Robot Teacher
Plans to deploy a "lifelike" robot and avatar teaching assistant at Salamanca High School have sparked debate over the role of technology in schools.
nysfocus.com
School voucher programs have brought on an explosion of subprime private schools that are funded by taxpayers but are completely unaccountable, yet now the Trump administration is about to rollout a voucher program nationwide. Make sure your state doesn't opt into this boondoggle.
ProPublica@propublica.org · 3w agoNEW: A woman who sexually abused a minor. Boxer Mike Tyson, who served time for rape. Both of these people successfully launched private schools that collected public money. As the voucher system grows more popular, few states have guardrails in place.
This @propublica.org exposé of a school choice nightmare in Arkansas may be tough to read, with a video that is truly gruesome, but it's a warning sign that Trump's new "education freedom" program will potentially roll out this taxpayer-funded abuse nationwide. www.propublica.org/article/arks...
This Private School Had Students Scrub Floors and Attack a Fellow Classmate. The State Still Funds It.
One of the few requirements for Arkansas private schools is that they have an American flag and a flagpole. But millions in state funds go to the largely unmonitored schools while complaints about saf...
propublica.org
San Diego charter school chain with campus in strip mall blows half a million bucks on artificial intelligence-driven robot that delivers what expert calls a “parody of education” to vulnerable school kids. #CharterSchoolFail voiceofsandiego.org/2026/06/24/a...
A Charter School Spent $500,000 on AI-Powered Humanoid Robots. Was It Worth It?
Officials at a charter chain known for credit recovery made a couple of big-dollar purchases in the form of ChatGPT-powered robots. Researchers are skeptical they’re worth the dough.
voiceofsandiego.org
History teacher warns new Florida “patriotic” public school curriculum peddles right-wing propaganda and treats the American experiment as a “finished” effort rather than an ongoing progression in realizing the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. progressive.org/public-schoo...
Patriotism Toward What End? The Enduring Debate in U.S. History Education
Florida’s new ‘FACT U.S. History’ course raises questions about whether U.S. history education should promote democratic critiques or obedience and nationalism.
progressive.org
History is a bitch: "States that split up their education funding among private and public schools consistently offered far worse education to all. Now Trump’s budgetary wrecking ball threatens to return us to those dismal conditions."
Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats@adamlaats.bsky.social · 2mo agoBlue-state governors like my boss @governor.ny.gov face a Boromir moment with Trump's disastrous private-school subsidy. There's no mystery here: These subsides are the same failed policies that Horace Mann rallied to fix 200 years ago. I laid out the case @slate.com:
ICYM my newest on what's happening to public schools across the country, it's now also at @officialznet.bsky.social znetwork.org/znetarticle/...
The Conservative 'plan' to Dismantle Public Schools is Entering the Home Stretch
In what is being touted as the “Golden Age of School Choice,” the option that is most popular with American families—to fund and attend their
znetwork.org
Iowa charter school under investigation for misappropriation of school funds. #CharterSchoolFail www.thegazette.com/news/educati...
Empowering Excellence Charter School founder Sarah Swayze on paid administrative leave
The Cedar Rapids Police Department is investigating Empowering Excellence Charter School for potential financial misappropriations.
thegazette.com
My new: "In what is being touted as the 'Golden Age of School Choice,' the option that is most popular with American families—to fund and attend their local public schools—is gradually being made less viable." www.nationofchange.org/2026/05/28/t...
The conservative ‘plan’ to dismantle public schools is entering the home stretch | NationofChange
nationofchange.org
Indeed! learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/chro... and learningpolicyinstitute.org/media/4813/d...
Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Lessons From Community Schools
There has been a significant decline in school attendance since the onset of the pandemic. This is concerning since chronically absent students are more likely to fall behind academically, disengage s...
learningpolicyinstitute.org
About that "learning recession" that's being blamed on the supposed pullback from NCLB accountability that started in the 2010s, you know what else was going on right around that time... www.nbcnews.com/news/educati...
Charter schools have an enrollment problem, so now watch the industry seek to solve that through legislation and lobbying rather than "letting the market work." #CharterSchoolFail www.ednc.org/5-15-2026-fo...
My new on community schools: “Many of the problems we face in education are the result of not engaging with local communities. ... Policies have been too top down. But community schools are the intervention that schools—and maybe even the whole society—needs.” progressive.org/public-schoo...
Community Schools Are at the Forefront of a ‘Neighborism’ Movement
Public schools in New York City’s network of community schools offer an alternative to top-down systems that are indifferent to the needs of working families.
progressive.org
"Learning recession" is the new buzzword for reporters to latch on to. Using terms from the rhetoric of economics to describe something going on in education reminds me of when conservatives attacked educators using terms from the rhetoric of national defense. www.the74million.org/article/anat...
Anatomy of a ‘Learning Recession’: Academic Losses Began in 2013, Report Finds
Latest release from Education Scorecard argues that the spread of social media — and a rollback of accountability — hurt students long before COVID.
the74million.org
Traditional public school enrollment is declining in NC partly due to demographics, but partly because state lawmakers are actively working to reduce enrollment in traditional public schools. Reporting that ignores that second part misleads readers.
What we know about the cost of declining enrollment in NC public schools
Enrollment is crucial for public school budgets. Explore the factors possibly affecting NC enrollment trends.
ednc.org
Tell Congress: Fund Students Not For-Profit-Run Charter Schools actionnetwork.org/le... @dianeravitch.bsky.social @carolburris.bsky.social @delauro.house.gov @repbonamici.bsky.social @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social
Nutshell: "Unlike previous reading legislation, science of reading policies do not mandate or empower schools to use evidence-based practices. Instead, they focus on using products." progressive.org/public-schoo...
What’s Behind the Push to Make Schools Adopt the Science of Reading?
Restrictive laws about reading instruction repeat historical patterns of trying to privatize and centralize what happens in the classroom.
progressive.org
"There is no need to ban novels deemed inappropriate if a state passes science of reading laws that mandate programs which replace novels completely." progressive.org/public-schoo...
What’s Behind the Push to Make Schools Adopt the Science of Reading?
Restrictive laws about reading instruction repeat historical patterns of trying to privatize and centralize what happens in the classroom.
progressive.org
There is no Charter School “million-student waitlist.” There are empty classrooms, declining enrollment, and schools closing mid-year. #CharterMythBusted Stop the waste. Start the reckoning. Read our report #CharterSchoolReckoning to learn more networkforpubliceduc...
Charter School Reckoning: Decline, Disillusionment and Cost - Network For Public Education
Part I: Decline, the first installment of a three-part report, Charter School Reckoning, presents sobering findings on the stagnation, retrenchment, and accelerating closures plaguing the charter school sector as it enters its fourth decade.
networkforpubliceducation.org
When education is run like business, schools need to waste time, focus, and money on marketing. (And parents and children can’t rely on schools remaining open even through an entire school year.) #GiftLink
As Enrollment Dips, School Administrators Turn to TikTok to Advertise
nytimes.com
I am so angry. Two Durham, NC kids - 11-year-old Genesis and 6-year-old Denis of Burton Elementary Magnet School - were taken by ICE at their regular asylum case appointment, and immediately deported without due process. Follow SiembraNC on IG or FB or @siembranc.bsky.social for next action steps.
Website updated with newest articles and media appearances. edpolitics.org
Ed Politics | Fighting back against the school privatization agenda
edpolitics.org
Without a positive agenda for schools, Dem messaging on health care and affordability is two steps forward one step back on family policy. There are many one-off proposals, but no unifying vision to offer parents. Trump and vouchers are damaging public schools. But a plan to go back isn’t a plan.
@colorado.gov Polis' effort to look centrist might backfire when MAGA voters find out the federal voucher program he supports could funnel tax dollars to the Chinese Communist Party. #COpol
Jeff Bryant@jeffbinnc.bsky.social · 4mo agoSchool choice advocates calling the Trump administration's new federal school voucher program “free money” may be underestimating its political costs. Read my newest to find out why: www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/27/h...
Democrats need to run hard against this until November 2028 - and then deliver
FactPost@factpostnews.bsky.social · 4mo agoTrump: We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We're fighting wars. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.
