On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with Bob Eitel about the Biden administration’s proposed changes to Title IX rules. Bob explains how the Obama administration manipulated Title IX to erode due process in favor of kangaroo courts and secret inquiries. He discusses how the Trump administration under Secretary Betsy DeVos reversed the Obama changes, and how the newly proposed Biden rules not only threaten free speech and academic freedom, but trample parental rights a...
Jul 18, 2022•50 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with parent activist, Erin Phillips. We learn how discovering the Sex Ed curriculum in her child's school turned Erin into a parent activist and led her to start a national organization focusing on parents’ rights. Erin shares her experiences of leading this growing organization and her advice on how to encourage other parents to get involved. We discuss the power of the teachers unions, and Erin's efforts getting teachers to leave ...
Jul 18, 2022•44 min
On this very special episode of Take Back our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with former U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. We discuss Betsy's lifelong advocacy for education freedom and school choice, and she shares stories of some of the innovative schools she has seen as well as her experiences being the primary target for the powerful teachers unions. We also discuss her effort reforming of the Title IX rules, and the Biden administration's proposed rollback, announced just yesterday,...
Jul 18, 2022•40 min
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with parent advocate Kim Borchers. Kim is the President and owner of Bird Dog Recruitment and Consulting LLC, was formerly with the Foundation for Government Accountability, and has spent 20+ years in the grassroots movement. Along the way she also served in politics, serving as a Deputy Chief of Staff for a Midwest governor, is the current RNC National Committeewoman for Kansas and currently advises and directs the Policy Circle’s ...
Jul 18, 2022•45 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew talk to two courageous mothers, Andrea Gross and Amy Gonzalez. They tell the story of how their children were expelled from their prestigious private school, Columbus Academy (Columbus, OH) because of their advocacy efforts. The two moms founded and organized a group of hundreds of parents, students, alumni, and teachers, called The Pro CA Coalition, to foster positive dialogue with the school and help the school return to a core focus on...
Jul 18, 2022•50 min
In this episode of Take Back our Schools, Beth and Andrew welcome social-emotional learning expert, Jason Littlefield. Jason is the founder of EmpowerED Pathways and co-designer of the Empowered Humanity Theory, a framework for life, leadership, and learning. He served as a public educator for twenty-one years and from 2014 to 2021 he was a Social and Emotional Learning Specialist for the Austin Independent School District. Jason is also affiliated with Free Black Thought and The Institute for L...
Jul 18, 2022•49 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew interview Denisha Merriweather, a remarkable young woman who experienced the life-changing impact a quality education can have on a person’s life. Denisha is a former Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program student who is the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. Denisha currently serves as the Director of Public Relations and Content Marketing at the American Federation for Children and is the Founder of Black Mind...
Jul 18, 2022•57 min
Andrew talk to Jennifer Burns about classical education. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in Marketing from Northwestern University and is a mom to three sons. She left a career in marketing communications to homeschool her son and then in 2004, Jennifer created an enrichment program called H.E.A.R.T. and two years later created a classical hybrid school called Classical Consortium Academy in Illinois. Both H.E.A.R.T. and C.C.A. are going strong today and serve over 350 students. On the podcast,...
Jul 18, 2022•51 min
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew talk to Kim Hermann, one of the country's leading attorneys in the war against woke education. Kim is General Counsel at Southeastern Legal Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest conservative public interest law firms. In addition to representing clients, Kim testifies before state legislatures, has drafted several pieces of model legislation, and regularly publishes legal articles. Her work and that of Southeastern Legal Foundation is re...
Jul 18, 2022•56 min
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew and new co-host Beth Feeley welcome Robert Woodson Sr. to the podcast. Bob is the Founder and President of the Woodson Center, 1776 Unites and Voices of Black Mothers United. He is an influential leader on issues of poverty alleviation and empowering disadvantaged communities to become agents of their own uplift. Bob is also a frequent advisor to local, state and federal government officials as well as business and philanthropic organizations. Bob...
Jul 18, 2022•49 min
On March 30, former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, and former Wall Street Journal reporter and parent activist extraordinaire Asra Nomani, joined Andrew Gutmann to record a live episode of “Take Back Our Schools.” The trio talked about battling a formidable collection of foes in the quest to right the ship: school boards, teacher unions, accreditation organizations and state legislatures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 5 min
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew welcomes in Corey DeAngelis to talk about educational freedom and school choice. Corey is the national director of research at the American Federation for Children, the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a senior fellow at Reason Foundation. Andrew and Corey talk about legislation being pursued in many states to give parents choice in their children’s education by funding students rat...
Jul 18, 2022•40 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew speaks with Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute. Matt shares his views on the politicization of America's public schools, critical race theory, and the genesis of curriculum transparency legislation, which Matt helped draft. We discuss the key features of this legislation and learn how it will help parents understand what is being taught in their children's schools. We also talk about the intense pushback from t...
Jul 18, 2022•39 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew speaks with parent advocate Beth Feeley. We discuss Beth's journey from concerned parent in suburban Chicago to founding New Trier Neighbors, one of the largest and most active local parent groups in the country. Beth shares her views on the state of public school education and how the parent movement has changed in the five years she has been involved in her local school district. Beth also gives her advice to other parents fighting against ident...
Jul 18, 2022•42 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Bethany and Andrew talk to Paul Rossi. We discuss Paul's journey from high school math teacher to education activist and learn how he went viral for exposing critical race theory at the prestigious New York City private school at which he taught. We also discuss his recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal (co-authored with our own Andrew Gutmann) entitled "Inside the Woke Indoctrination Machine." Paul discusses the 100 hours of leaked video he and Andrew...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Bethany and Andrew talk to Daniel Buck, middle school English teacher and co-founder of the website, The Chalkboard Review. We discuss Twitter's recent censorship and deplatforming of The Chalkboard Review account as well as Daniel's views on how to fix our education system. We also ruminate over the this week's decision of several blue state governors to finally relax mask mandates in schools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a...
Jul 18, 2022•41 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Bethany and Andrew interview Jennifer McWilliams, a parent advocate and expert on the proliferation of social emotional learning (SEL) in our nation's schools. We learn about the relationship between SEL and critical race theory (CRT), how parents can recognize SEL in their children's schools, and Jennifer walks us through why SEL is so dangerous to our children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 18, 2022•44 min
In the latest episode of Take Back Our Schools, Bethany and Andrew interview Dr. Jennifer Reesman, a specialist in pediatric neuropsychology about the damage that unnecessary covid restrictions are doing to our nation’s children. We discuss how school and other closures have impacted educational outcomes and the mental health of children, and Dr. Reesman offers her views on the resiliency of kids. We also talk about Dr. Reesman’s (and Bethany’s!) own advocacy in Montgomery Country, Maryland, fig...
Jul 18, 2022•54 min
In this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Parent Defending Education’s Erika Sanzi talks about her own experiences as a teacher, concerned parent, local school board member and as one of the leaders of the exploding parents movement. Sanzi, who has been in this fight longer than almost anyone else, also shares her views on the perverse incentives of the teachers unions. Plus Bethany and Andrew discuss Bethany’s new book series for children, Heroes of Liberty. (For a special 5% discount use the p...
Jul 18, 2022•53 min
In the latest episode of Take Back Our Schools, Bethany and Andrew interview political strategist and father of three, Rory Cooper, about the recent election of Glenn Youngkin as Virginia’s new governor. We discuss Rory’s experiences organizing parents against Covid school closures and the role that parents played in the recent election. Bethany and Andrew also talk about the enormous damage Covid policies are doing to our children and discuss whether the new “Omicron” variant will shut down sch...
Jul 18, 2022•55 min
Bethany and Andrew interview journalist Suzy Weiss about her two recent pieces for Bari Weiss’s Common Sense Substack. We discuss Suzy’s reporting on how young woke women are eschewing having babies and even getting sterilized, many under the guise of social justice. We also talk about the proliferation of the homeschooling movement in America due to the broadening dissatisfaction with the public school system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 18, 2022•41 min
In the inaugural episode of Take Back Our Schools, hosts Bethany Mandel and Andrew Gutmann introduce the podcast, talk about Bethany’s proclivities for homeschooling, Andrew’s viral letter to the parents of New York City’s the Brearley School and the Biden administration’s divisive labeling of parents as “domestic terrorists.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 18, 2022•38 min
