Forget all that talk about education as the great equalizer. Public schools and inequality are joined at the hip. But must it be that way? We talk to the authors of a recent book called Schooled and Sorted, an eye-opening investigation into the ways sorting within schools translates into inequality in the larger world, and how to change that. And we head to Portland, Oregon for a close-up look at the most destructive sort of sorting in action, and meet some parents who are trying to do something about it. 

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#205 Schools as Sorting Machines

Tax credit scholarships are a complex, controversial way of sending taxpayer dollars to private religious schools, allowing wealthy donors and corporations to reap huge windfalls in the process. Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire explore the the origins of the wall between public money and private schools that these “neo vouchers” are intended to circumvent. They're joined by tax policy expert Carl Davis who They’re joined by tax policy expert Carl Davis who explains that tax credit scholarships have more in common with money laundering than with charitable giving.

#15: Tax Credit Scholarships: A Laundromat for Tax Dollars

School marketing is a fast growing - and completely unregulated - byproduct of the education marketplace. Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire explore the world of "edvertising" with researcher Sarah Butler Jessen. To market, to market!

#16: Truth in Edvertising

Have You Heard explores LeBron James' partnership with the Akron Public Schools - and what makes it different from other high wattage education reform ventures. Rann Miller, who is an educator, writer and expert in all things LeBron, joins the convo.

#48 A Star-Powered Promise: LeBron Takes a Shot at School Reform

Americans are big believers in the power of education. But they are also a national of hustlers. Have You Heard explores the intersection of the two with Bob Hampel, author of Fast and Curious: a History of Short Cuts in American Education.

#49 Fast, Cheap and Out of Control: Selling Short Cuts in American Education

In 1977, Have You Heard co-host Jennifer Berkshire climbed aboard a school bus headed for a soon-to-be integrated school. In this episode she explores what did - and didn't happen - in Springfield, Illinois, and why our vision of what's possible today seems so much smaller than it did 40 years ago.

#50 On the Bus: What One City Can Teach Us About School Desegregation

Have You Heard talks to Anand Giridharadas about his new book, Winners Take All, a scathing indictment of billionaire change makers who seek to "disrupt" public education while leaving the structures of inequality untouched.

#51 Win/Win: Why Billionaire Philanthropists are Bad at School Reform

Teachers are running for office this year in unprecedented numbers. Have You Heard talks to some of them and looks at why this educator-turned-candidate phenomenon represents a unique phenomenon. Hint: it's not just teachers who are on the ballot but the future of public education.

#52: Teachers are Running for Office - And to Save Public Education

Have You Heard digs up the original "zombie" issue in education: schools of education and their [insert criticism here]. Jack and Jennifer are joined by education historian Lauren Lefty to explore why this particular zombie can never be slayed.

#53 The Zombie: Undying Attacks on Ed Schools

Boston recently announced plans to begin rebuilding its schools. But in a fast-gentrifying city, who will these new schools be for? Jennifer travels to a school on the chopping block: McCormack Middle School in Dorchester to talk to teachers and students who are fighting to keep their school community together.

#54 Closing Time: In a Gentrifying City, Are Some Students Expendable?

Occasionally funny and periodically informative, Have You Heard features journalist Jennifer Berkshire and scholar Jack Schneider as they explore the age-old quest to finally fix the nation's public schools, one policy issue at a time.

#205 Schools as Sorting Machines

Have You Heard

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