Reality Check with Jeanne Allen Center for Education Reform

Kicking off the 4th season of Reality Check, Jeanne Allen talks with the leading pioneers of education opportunity whose work inspired the many transformative changes happening today about having a new president, new legislators, new everything. Listen to the inspiration of these five leaders who made choice famous, from AZ to DC, from the Badgers to the Wolverines: Lisa Graham Keegan, Kevin Chavous (@kevinpchavous), Howard Fuller (@HowardLFuller), J.C. Huizenga (@nhaschools), and Mickey Revenaugh (@mickeyrevenaugh)

Social worker, author and professional psychoanalyst Erica Komisar (@EricaKomisarCSW) joins Reality Check to discuss the latest findings on the condition of schoolchildren and their emotional, social and mental well-being throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how parents and others can best support their young ones in these trying times. Thanks, doctor!

A look at Chicago, unions, kids and the future of schools post Covid.

A well-known former Superintendent of major city school systems, the wonderfully outspoken Paul Vallas (@Paulvallas) joins Reality Check to discuss what to do in today’s unprecedented education environment — including where and whether parents should have a say, what the unions are doing and how he thinks other districts educators behave. Not an episode to miss!

Back to School season is usually filled with hope and promise and excitement over another milestone. But this year, Covid has created disruptions in how we do school and many districts and schools still have not finalized their opening plans. While stories abound about parents and their travails, few are asking the big question – What do parents want? Covering that question and more on this special edition of Reality Check are Colleen Dippel, Founder and CEO of Families Empowered (familiesempowered.org), Houston, TX, Janelle Wood, Founder, Black Mothers Forum (blackmothersforums.com)and Microschool Partnership, South Phoenix, AZ, and Keri Rodrigues, Co-Founder and Founding President of National Parents Union (nationalparentsunion.org), Boston, MA.

Watch this and more of CER's ACTION Series at https://edreform.com/covid-action/videos/

Seth Andrew (@SethAndrew) founder of the Democracy Prep charter school network and the social venture incubator Democracy Builders, joins Reality Check remotely to discuss newest endeavor, a college called Degrees of Freedom (degreesoffreedom.org), providing a hybrid late high school, early college experience for students who are low income and the first in their families to attend college. Listen for more!

Kevin P. Chavous, President of Academics, Policy, and Schools at K12, Inc., joins CER ACTION Series Webinars to talk about how his company is responding to students’ and families’ needs in this critical time for education, how educators and advocates in the space can support substantive changes for good in their own systems, and what we can expect in the future for schools across the country. Listen on for more! If you like what you heard, join CER for the next episode in the ACTION Series on June 2: edreform.com/covid-action/events