Jennifer C. Berkshire

Jennifer C. Berkshire hosts the education podcast Have You Heard. She is the author, with Jack Schneider, of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door and the forthcoming The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual.

Beth Lewis, Executive Director of Save Our Schools Arizona, speaks out against income tax cuts and election law changes passed by the Arizona Legislature in Phoenix, Arizona on September 28, 2017.

In Red States, the Bill for School Voucher Bait-and-Switch Is Coming Due In Red States, the Bill for School Voucher Bait-and-Switch Is Coming Due

For GOP lawmakers who view public education as a quasi-socialist project, the gaping hole in state budgets left by subsidizing private school tuition is a feature, not a bug.

Feb 7, 2024 / Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider

A woman wearing a

Moms for Liberty Isn’t Going Anywhere Moms for Liberty Isn’t Going Anywhere

The more bitterness and resentment about public schools the group can generate, the easier it will be to privatize education—a long-standing goal for its deep-pocketed backers.

Dec 15, 2023 / Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider

Dennis Prager, conservative radio talk show host and writer, speaks at a Turning Point USA summit.

Yes, Prager U Wants to Indoctrinate Your Kids. But That’s Not Really the Point. Yes, Prager U Wants to Indoctrinate Your Kids. But That’s Not Really the Point.

The aim isn’t just to change what gets taught but to transform how we understand ourselves, the public realm, and the common good.

Oct 25, 2023 / Jack Schneider and Jennifer C. Berkshire

How to Fight the Right’s Moral Panic Over Parental Rights

How to Fight the Right’s Moral Panic Over Parental Rights How to Fight the Right’s Moral Panic Over Parental Rights

How the right’s school-themed extremism has triggered a nationwide backlash.

May 23, 2023 / Feature / Jennifer C. Berkshire

The West Coast Think Tank Helping to Orchestrate DeSantis’s War on the Woke

The West Coast Think Tank Helping to Orchestrate DeSantis’s War on the Woke The West Coast Think Tank Helping to Orchestrate DeSantis’s War on the Woke

How the Claremont Institute is shaping the Sunshine State’s anti–civil rights and pro-patriarchy agenda

Mar 30, 2023 / Jennifer C. Berkshire

Why Is the Republican Party Suddenly Weakening Child Labor Laws?

Why Is the Republican Party Suddenly Weakening Child Labor Laws? Why Is the Republican Party Suddenly Weakening Child Labor Laws?

Rolling back restrictions on child labor and dismantling public education will make the country far more unequal. For today’s GOP, that’s a feature, not a bug.

Mar 16, 2023 / Jack Schneider and Jennifer C. Berkshire

School Voucher Battles

Robbing From the Poor to Educate the Rich Robbing From the Poor to Educate the Rich

The bait of school vouchers—and the switch to strangling public education.

Feb 13, 2023 / Jack Schneider and Jennifer C. Berkshire

Good News Alert: Democrats Might Actually Flip the Michigan Legislature

Good News Alert: Democrats Might Actually Flip the Michigan Legislature Good News Alert: Democrats Might Actually Flip the Michigan Legislature

What’s their secret sauce? Support for public education.

Oct 28, 2022 / Jennifer C. Berkshire

It Isn’t Populist to Defund Rural Schools

It Isn’t Populist to Defund Rural Schools It Isn’t Populist to Defund Rural Schools

The Republican Party has won rural America by fanning the flames of the culture war. But by taking a match to public schools, it may have finally gone too far.

Sep 20, 2022 / Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider

A crowd of people gather along a dance, holding posters.

How Progressives Won the School Culture War—in New Hampshire! How Progressives Won the School Culture War—in New Hampshire!

An upset victory last week in a red state suggests that the Republican Party’s game plan for attacking public education may not be a winning strategy.

Mar 15, 2022 / Jennifer C. Berkshire

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