Jennifer Berkshire

The Backlash Against School Vouchers Is Showing Up at the Polls A potent issue keeps getting missed by the media

I've been predicting that vouchers are going to end up being a drag on the GOP. Races in NC, Arkansas and Texas show that we're starting to see that educationwars.substack.com/p/the-backla...

I wrote about the (surprising) potency of school vouchers in this week's elections. TLDR Vouchers are a poor fit for the *bottom vs. top* energy sweeping the Democratic party. Meanwhile, telling GOP voters that they have no choice but school choice might've been a bad move...

The Backlash Against School Vouchers Is Showing Up at the Polls A potent issue keeps getting missed by the media

@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social on vouchers:

The reality is that a policy that is a darling of billionaire donors and actively redistributes wealth upwards is a spectacularly poor fit for our “top vs. bottom” political moment. It’s also an organizing opportunity.

(Talarico gets it.)

#214 These Conservatives Are Furious About School Vouchers Forget about ‘education freedom’ and ‘school choice.’ These conservative see the expansion of school vouchers as a government takeover of private and home schools. We head to Texas, where opposition t

Latest episode of Have You Heard goes deep into a story the media has completely missed: the backlash against school vouchers on the right (and why it matters.) Forget *education freedom.* These oonservatives see government overreach and socialism on.soundcloud.com/L8SfDbV07d1L...

The Billionaire Backlash From marching through federal agencies to dismantling public education, the spector of billionaires-gone-wild is spurring bipartisan backlash

to suggest Talarico is dem establishment is to misunderstand Talarico & dem establishment. this starts with understanding Talarico's approach education (which def ain't arne duncan's).

good place to start is @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social:

educationwars.substack.com/p/the-billio...

Even as vouchers emerge as a potent political issue, centrist groups are urging Dems to fall in line and support them. Hard to find a better example of how out of touch these guys are

Find me a winning Dem primary challenger & I'll find you an opponent of school vouchers as a hand-out to the wealthy. But opposition to vouchers also factored in GOP races like this upset in NC where powerful senate prez, a darling of the school choice lobby, is down by 2 votes

It’s 2026, and public policy is facilitating 19th century wonders like the multigrade ~one room schoolhouse and vaccine preventable infectious disease.

Interesting choice by the Department of Education to banner-ize Catharine Beecher, a staunch opponent of giving women the right to vote...

As someone who actually believes that good instructional policy can meaningfully move the needle for kids, it’s important to remember that everything else the state does in terms of policy matters too.

I feel seen

Overselling the Mississippi Miracle Southern poverty is a policy choice

The 'Southern Surge' states remain the absolute worst places for kids. I wrote about what all the Mississippi takes keep missing educationwars.substack.com/p/oversellin...

The Kids Are Alright | Have You Heard Get more from Have You Heard on Patreon

And in the 'Weeds' portion of our show, for Patreon supporters, we talk about the conservative backlash against school vouchers that's upending Texas politics www.patreon.com/posts/kids-a...

Newly Declassified Records Suggest Parents Collaborated With the FBI to Spy on Their Rebellious Teens During the 1960s As high school students across the U.S. embraced political activism, adults turned to the authorities to shield their sons and daughters from radical influences

Some lessons from the past:

1) Overreaction from adults only spurs more high school activism.

2) The 'outside agitator' is always changing, depending on cause and race of protestors.

3) Parents are surprisingly willing to snitch on their own kids www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...

#213 The Kids are Alright Decades before high school students were walking out of school to protest ICE, they embraced political activism against the Vietnam War and in favor of school desegration and expanding civil rights. I

Long before high school students were walking out against ICE, they were protesting the Vietnam War. Latest Have You Heard stars @aaronfountainjr.bsky.social, author of the fantastic book High School Students Unite!, on the power of teen activism past & present soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...

We haven’t done an episode but I’m writing something for my Substack newsletter right now!

In North Carolina, a Tight Primary Could Upend the Balance of Conservative Power

Not mentioned in this story about a populist challenger vs the conservative establishment in North Carolina: the role that school vouchers are playing in fueling grassroots anger on the right. The *horse-riding sheriff* says vouchers are a give-a-way to the rich www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...

I knew she sounded familiar!

High School Students Unite! Mid-twentieth-century student activism is a pivotal chapter in American history. While college activism has been well documented, the equally vital contribut...

I'm at work on a pod episode w/ Aaron Fountain, author of High School Students Unite! about 60/70's student activism. Key lessons: heavy handed crackdowns only generate more activism. As does teaching students about 'democracy' while silencing them uncpress.org/978146969182...

Writing a Letter of Support for a Student Taken By ICE: A List of Dos and Don’ts Last week I sat down to write a letter of support for a student who’d been taken into ICE detention.

This is really good too jonnohull.substack.com/p/writing-a-...

Thanks for sharing - I'll add to the reading list for the next (related) episode of the pod!

Effort by Texas GOP to bully students into shutting up about ICE seems to be going well

Just got my first PR pitch for an AI powered edtech product for kids hiding out from ICE

Opinion | Affordability and the ‘Epstein Class’ Will Define American Politics

Worth a read: Anger at billionaires is going to reshape politics. (If you want an example, talk to red state voters who are FURIOUS about school vouchers -- a policy largely purchased by billionaires who bought up entire state legislatures) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

If you're a conservative who sees vouchers as 1) a massive entitlement program and 2) a government takeover of private education, the fact that people are lining up to get what one activist described to me as 'government cheese' is unlikely to change your mind!

Not a dunce question at all! It's spin in that the WSJ is conflating sign ups with political popularity. But conservative activists are furious about what they see as a massive entitlement program w/ lots of government strings. I'm working on a podcast episode about this right now!

Opinion | Texas Parents Rush for School Choice A record 42,000 ESA applications flooded in on the first day.

Vouchers are so deeply unpopular with Greg Abbott's own base that not only did an anti-voucher Dem just win a special election but even the GOP candidate was anti-voucher, then changed her tune (and likely got fewer votes as a result) www.wsj.com/opinion/texa...

Students Unite! The high school student protests against ICE aren't getting enough attention

"The teens who are walking out of school right now are learning these same lessons. And unlike the Vietnam era, when the public was broadly hostile to student protestors, today’s activists start out with the public overwhelmingly on their side." - new from @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social

It also appears that students at some schools (like schools in Texas where the Governor has threatened district funding and even takeovers in response) are trying to carve out ways to protest that keep those things in mind.
www.dmagazine.com/micropost/st...