The Education Exchange

Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District., joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the district has worked to turn around lower performing schools.

Martin R. West, the editor-in-chief of Education Next and member of the National Assessment Governing Board, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the latest release of National Assessment of Educational Progress data.

Heather Mac Donald, the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Mac Donald's recent article, which is critical of the changes the Trump Administration has made with the National Science Foundation. Mac Donald's article, "Trump Takes on Big Science," is available now from City Journal. https://www.city-journal.org/article/trump-national-science-foundation-education-grant-funding

Ilya Marritz, an independent journalist, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Marritz's recent reporting on the relationship between Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, and Jay Bhattacharya, who is currently the director of the National Institutes of Health. Marritz's article, "Alan Garber's former student now holds the keys to Harvard's future," is available now from The Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/11/metro/alan-garbers-former-student-now-holds-keys-harvards-future/

Scott R. Levy, an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Levy's new book, Why School Boards Matter: Reclaiming the Heart of American Education and Democracy.

Brian Stephens, the CEO of Caissa K12, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how public schools can make themselves more appealing to students and parents as vouchers and tax credits becomes more popular across the country.

Paul Carrese, a Professor in the School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Columbia University's recent $200 million settlement with the Trump administration.

Derrell Bradford, the president of 50CAN, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how states might react to the new tax credit scholarship provision that was part of budget reconciliation bill, which was passed by Congress and signed into law on July 4, 2025.

Ester Fuchs, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science at Columbia University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the New York City mayoral race, and what it could mean for education in the city.

Robert Maranto, the 21st Century Chair in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the Free Inquiry Papers, a project which looks into how freedom of expression was suppressed at institutions of higher education, and how universities can change course. "The Free Inquiry Papers: How to Bring Back Free Inquiry," co-written with Sally Satel, Catherine Salmon, and Lee Jussim, is available now. https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-free-inquiry-papers-how-to-bring-back-free-inquiry/

Robert Enlow, the President and CEO of EdChoice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the tax credit scholarship provision that was part of budget reconciliation bill, which was passed by Congress and signed into law on July 4, 2025.

Matthew Lenard, an assistant professor of education leadership and policy studies at Florida State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Lenard's latest research, which investigates the impact of magnet schools on student learning. "The Attraction of Magnet Schools: Evidence from Embedded Lotteries in School Assignment," co-written with Umut Dur, Robert G. Hammond, Melinda Morrill, Thayer Morrill, and Colleen Paeplow, is available now as part of the Program on Education Policy and Governance Conference Papers Series. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Taubman/PEPG/research/PEPG25_15.pdf

"School Enrollment Shifts Five Years After the Pandemic," co-written with Abigail Francis, is available now. https://wheelockpolicycenter.org/high-quality-education/school-enrollment-shifts-five-years-after-the-pandemic/

Jim Blew, co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a school choice provision in H.R. 1, the U.S. House reconciliation bill that has moved to the U.S. Senate, and its potential impact on education.

Vladimir Kogan, a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new report which finds that half of school board election races go uncontested and that incumbents are reelected more than 80 percent of the time when they run. The report, "High Turnover with Low Accountability: Local School Board Elections in 16 States," co-written with Stéphane Lavertu and Zachary Peskowitz, is available here. https://edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1213

Anna J. Egalite, a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development in the College of Education at North Carolina State University joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has helped drive school choice in the state of North Carolina.

Paul DiPerna, the Vice President of Research and Innovation for EdChoice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how public opinion has shaped the conversation around school choice in the United States.

Angela R. Watson, a senior research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Watson's recent research on how homeschooling has grown, and how students and parents measure success.

Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Riley’s new book, The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences to Succeed.

David Figlio, the Gordon Fyfe Professor of Economics and Education at the University of Rochester, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Figlio's latest report, which investigates the effects of a Ohio school voucher program on student college success. The Effects of Ohio’s EdChoice Voucher Program on College Enrollment and Graduation, co-written with Matthew Chingos and Krzysztof Karbownik, is available now. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effects-ohios-edchoice-voucher-program-college-enrollment-and-graduation

David Zweig joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss new book, An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions, and how the U.S. response to Covid-19 became shaped by politics.

Bhash Mazumder, a Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Mazumder's recent paper, which looks into the history of the Rosenwald Schools in the segregated South and their connection to political activism. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," co-written with Daniel Aaronson, Mark Borgschulte, and Sunny Liu, is available now. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/working-papers/2024/2024-06

Ben Scafidi, Professor and Director of the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the 2025 Kansas Open Enrollment Report and its implications on enrollment policies nationwide.

Michael Hartney, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and assistant professor of political science at Boston College, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss their new joint research, which finds that states that voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election saw more learning loss following the Covid-19 pandemic than those that voted for Donald Trump, according to the most recent results from the 2014 National Assessment of Education Progress. "Red States Have Seen Less Learning Loss," co-written by Hartney and Peterson, is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/red-states-have-seen-less-learning-loss-post-pandemic-scores-nations-report-card-naep/

Thomas Kane, the Walter H. Gale Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how school districts have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and how districts need to pivot from short-term recovery to long-term strategies to improve student outcomes. The latest edition of the Education Recovery Scorecard is available now. https://educationrecoveryscorecard.org/

Stephen Macedo, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Macedo's new book, "In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us."

Steven Wilson, a Senior Fellow at Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Wilson's new book, The Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America.

Jennifer Hochschild, the Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government at Harvard University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Hochschild's latest book, "Race/Class Conflict and Urban Financial Threat."

Adam Gamoran, the president of the William T. Grant Foundation, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the Trump Administration's contract cancellations will effect the Institute of Education Sciences.

Nick Melvoin, member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how LAUSD have responded to the Palisades wildfires, and reactions to the latest NAEP results in the district.

Brian Kisida, an associate professor at the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs, University of Missouri, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how much critical race theory has made an impact in America's schools. "Bridging the Divide over Critical Race Theory in America’s Classrooms," co-written by Kisida, Gary Ritter, Jennifer Gontram, J. Cameron Anglum, Heidi H. Erickson, Darnell Leatherwood and Matthew H. Lee, is available now at EducationNext.org.

Clint Bolick, the 44th Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the Supreme Court agreeing to take up the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond case, and what it could mean for the future of charter schools and religious education in the United States.

Martin R. West, the editor-in-chief of Education Next and member of the National Assessment Governing Board, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the latest release of National Assessment of Educational Progress data.

Andrew Perloff, a freelance writer and producer and the co-host of the nationally syndicated sports-radio program "The Maggie and Perloff Show," joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the name, image and likeness space is making its way from college athletics into the high school realm. "The Marketing of High School Athletes: A Rolling Tide," is available now at EducationNext.org. https://www.educationnext.org/marketing-of-high-school-athletes-a-rolling-tide-name-image-likeness

Jean-Claude Brizard, President and CEO of Digital Promise Global, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the future of digital and virtual learning, and how innovations can strengthen teachers and students.

Mike Miles, Superintendent of Schools for Houston Independent School District joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Miles' efforts to turn around Houston schools.

Benjamin Fleshman, Council at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the St. Dominic Academy v. Makin case, which looks into whether students at Catholic schools in Maine can participate in the state's school voucher program.

Jeb Bush, the 43rd Governor of Florida and Chairman of ExcelinEd, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the state of school choice as 2025 begins.

Jim Peyser, the former Massachusetts Secretary of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the recent decision by Massachusetts voters to remove the high school graduation requirement for students taking the state's test, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.

Derrell Bradford, the president of 50CAN, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the state of charter schools and school choice in the aftermath of the 2024 elections.

Daniel Weisberg, First Deputy Chancellor, New York City Department of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the NYC Reads program, which aims to ensure that all New York City students become strong readers.

Clint Bolick, the 44th Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the Supreme Court has interpreted the clauses of the First Amendment of the Constitution, and its impact on religious education in the United States.

Michael Goldstein, the founder of Match Charter Schools and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the shift in how charter schools have operated in the past decade.

Michael Hartney, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and assistant professor of political science at Boston College, Joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the influence of teachers-union endorsements on school-board elections. "The Politics of Teachers' Union Endorsements," co-written with Vladimir Kogan, is available now. https://edworkingpapers.com/ai23-841

Macke Raymond, a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a report from the Education Futures Council, which looks to identify and remove barriers to student success within the K-12 educational system. "Ours to Solve, Once — And for All" is available now from Hoover.org. https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/EFC_OursToSolve_Web_101824.pdf

Dr. Jefferson Pestronk, Executive Director, Modern States Education Alliance, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the platform, which serves as an on-ramp to college for thousands of students. Learn more at ModernStates.org.

The co-leader of the Eversheds Sutherland Business and Commercial Litigation team, Rocco E. Testani, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss recent education adequacy cases in states, how spending has increased in that time, and whether these cases will continue to be brought.

Wolfgang Frimmel, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at Johannes Kepler University Linz, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Frimmel's latest research, which examines the causal effect of parental divorce on student’s long-term outcomes in education. "How does parental divorce affect children’s long-term outcomes?," co-written with Martin Halla and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, is available now from the Journal of Public Economics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272724001373

Michael Hartney, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and assistant professor of political science at Boston College, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the end of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, and how the city of Chicago will look to cover the change in funding.

Mikko Silliman, Assistant Professor, Aalto University, Department of Economics, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Silliman's latest research, which looks at the impacts on students who choose a vocational academic path. "Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education," co-written with Hanna Virtanen, is available now. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/app.20190782