Ten years ago, Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote about choosing a struggling, segregated public school for her daughter as a matter of principle. This month she wrote the sequel, and it did not go the way she hoped. Derrell Bradford read it at 6:30 on a Sunday morning and forwarded it to his mother with a text of his own: "Thank you for not doing this to me." Growing up in Southwest Baltimore, his family had debated whose address to borrow so he could escape the school he was zoned for. Here's the part that stings. Hannah-Jones spent ten years looking for a great school for her daughter. Success Academy, Achievement First, Uncommon and KIPP were, as Derrell puts it, "a 30-second walk away from PS 307." Sixty-three thousand Black families in New York City have already made that walk. She didn't. Derrell thinks he knows why: she doesn't like the policy that built them. Derrell, president of 50CAN, joins Jed Wallace and Andy Rotherham. Derrell calls her a talented writer. The agreement ends there: whether the piece moves anything, why the charter movement stopped saying out loud what works, and whether the problem is courage, boredom, or plain politics. Along the way: why Derrell says "she's catching hell from Black people because Black people care about their kids," the "Bad Bet" Democrats made on education, a New York Times list of 30 school fixes that left out charter schools entirely, Jed's data putting Indianapolis charters off the charts, the daughter as the Shakespearean jester who tells the truth, and the question nobody is asking: no one has questioned her right to make that choice, so why deny it to everyone else? In this episode: Derrell's Sunday-morning read, and the text he sent his mother: "Thank you for not doing this to me"Southwest Baltimore, borrowed addresses, a scholarship to an all-boys day school, and why Derrell says "I lived it"Why Derrell thinks "the intent must have always been to write the second story"Nick Gillespie's point: compelling journalism, weak policy analysisAndy on what the article leaves out, from a school spending over $50 thousand a kid to No Child Left Behind, and why "everyone's not entitled to their own facts""She's catching hell from Black people because Black people care about their kids"Jed's two cognitive dissonances: "my kid's in a lousy school and I'm a good parent," and "I got my kid into a good school and I'm a good citizen""It's a mistake to build public policy that requires people not to act in the best interest of their own children," with Success Academy, Achievement First, Uncommon, and KIPP a 30-second walk from PS 307Derrell's "Bad Bet": Common Core, teacher eval, ESSA, Trump's first term, and Democrats trading their education agenda to win back the unionsThe New York Times' 30 ideas for fixing public schools, and why charter schools weren't one of themThe Newark school whose former principals went on to start North Star Academy and DSST, and why that history is missing from the front of the reform pipelineIndianapolis: integrated charter schools under one umbrella, new state data, and a context the rest of the country doesn't haveEmpathy for the kid, and the daughter as the Shakespearean jester who tells the truthBoredom, courage, or politics: why the sector went quiet, and what an alien would make of both parties"No one has questioned her right to make it," and a new scale lever: charters, ESAs, tax credits, and 1.6 million kids in open enrollment Show Notes & Resources: Nikole Hannah-Jones, NYT Magazine (2016)Nikole Hannah-Jones, NYT Magazine (2026)Michael Harriott's Contraband Camp podcast, with Nikole Hannah-JonesDerrell Bradford in The 74Derrell Bradford in Vital City"Markets and Monopolies: The Faces of School Choice in 2025" — Derrell Bradford, PEPG"Say It Loud" — Derrell Bradford, CharterFolk"When Cognitive Dissonance Becomes Cognitive Offloading" — Jed Wallace, CharterFolk"An Education Conservative Is a Liberal Who's Had To Do Cafeteria Duty?" — Andy Rotherham, EduwonkReason Roundtable episode Andy referencedColeman Hughes, The Free PressThe NYT's 30 ideas for fixing schools, rankedEva Moskowitz: "I sent my children to the schools I founded. It wasn't a sacrifice."The Mind Trust on 2026 ILEARN results in IndianapolisTerrance Carroll's podcast with Peter GroffMike Petrilli's roundup of responsesCharterFolk Hosts: Jed Wallace (CharterFolk) and Andy Rotherham (Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Bellwether) Guest: Derrell Bradford (President, 50CAN) Sponsor WonkyFolk: Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Sponsorship packages are available, including live WonkyFolk events. Reach out to Jed Wallace at jed@charterfolk.org for more information. Watch the full video on YouTube. WonkyFolk is produced by CharterFolk.
