WonkyFolk is a discussion series between Andy Rotherham and Jed Wallace intended to provide an informative and engaging forum where education reformers can grapple with tough issues related to our shared quest to improve public education in our country.
WonkyFolk
Claim This Podcastby CharterFolk
5.0(3 reviews)
36 episodes
Updated Bi-weekly
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Podcast Overview
WonkyFolk is a discussion series between Andy Rotherham and Jed Wallace intended to provide an informative and engaging forum where education reformers can grapple with tough issues related to our shared quest to improve public education in our country.
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Publishing Since
4/4/2023
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Recent Episodes
May 22, 2026
Vol 36 - A Conversation with Pat Brantley, CEO of Friendship Public Schools
<p>Pat Brantley — CEO of Friendship Public Schools and a 2026 inductee into the National Charter School Hall of Fame — joins Jed Wallace and Andy Rotherham for a WonkyFolk conversation recorded live in front of an audience at Friendship's Armstrong campus in Washington, DC.</p><p>Pat traces her path from Newark to Princeton to Dr. Dorothy Height's civil rights work to Friendship House — and the moment the idea for a charter school was born. From there: what she says to charter critics, why she sees the public vs. public-charter divide as the sector's greatest failure, how she weighs growth against proficiency, the line-by-line math behind DC's charter budget shortfall, why hitting 50% market share makes charters "a target" rather than a protection, the case for "adopting" struggling schools, and — in a live audience Q&A — the role of Black male educators and what charter leaders owe their communities heading into the DC elections.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ul><li>Pat's path from Newark to Princeton to Dr. Dorothy Height's civil rights work — and how she landed at Friendship House</li><li>Donald Hentz, Friendship House's reinvention "to be about children," and the birth of the charter school idea</li><li>Building Friendship into 15 campuses serving nearly 5,000 students across DC</li><li>Why Pat names schools for local history — Friendship Armstrong, Friendship Blow Pierce — rather than erasing it</li><li>What she says to charter critics: "I'm not listening to the critics. I'm listening to the parents."</li><li>Why the public vs. public-charter divide is, in her view, the sector's greatest failure</li><li>Growth vs. absolute proficiency — and why both have to matter</li><li>Why report cards and transparent accountability still matter, and DC's new accountability framework</li><li>The 25-year question: does DC have a North Star, and what Indianapolis got right — and at what cost</li><li>The DC budget fight — Pat's line-by-line math on the per-pupil shortfall and $50 million in fixed costs shifted off DCPS</li><li>Why hitting 50% market share gives charters "visibility" and makes them "a target" — not protection</li><li>The case for mergers — or "adoption" — of struggling schools, and the turnaround of Friendship Ideal</li><li>A live audience Q&A: the ecosystem responsibility of high-performing charters, the role of Black male educators, and what charter leaders owe their communities in an election year</li><li>Dorothy Height's "fist" metaphor and "one Friendship, one band, one sound"</li></ul><br/><p><strong>Show Notes & Resources:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.friendshipschools.org/about/leadership-team/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pat Brantley — bio (Friendship Public Schools Leadership Team)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.friendshipschools.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Friendship Public Schools</a></li><li><a href="https://dccharters.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DC Charter School Alliance</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dcpcsb.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DC Public Charter School Board</a></li><li><a href="https://publiccharters.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Alliance for Public Charter Schools</a></li><li><a href="https://bellwether.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bellwether</a></li></ul><br/><p><strong>Guest:</strong> Pat Brantley — CEO, Friendship Public Schools; Chair, DC Charter School Alliance; 2026 National Charter School Hall of Fame inductee</p><p><strong>Hosts:</strong> Jed Wallace (CharterFolk) and Andy Rotherham (Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Bellwether)</p><p>Watch the full video on <a href="https://youtu.be/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</p><p>WonkyFolk is produced by <a href="https://charterfolk.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CharterFolk</a>.</p>
April 23, 2026
Vol 35 - Money Follows the Child (and So Should Democrats) - Jorge Elorza on DFER and the New Tax Credit
<p>Jorge Elorza — former mayor of Providence, now CEO of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) — joins Jed Wallace and Andy Rotherham for a frank conversation about the federal scholarship tax credit, the Democratic Party’s education problem, and what a reset actually requires.</p><p>They dig into how the new federal tax credit program actually works (and why Jorge and Arne Duncan called it a “no-brainer”), why more than thirty U.S. senators from the Dem Party are now trying to sunset the entire thing, and what that fight reveals about a Democratic brand that’s gotten badly out of step with the voters it claims to represent. Along the way: Providence’s 2.4% math proficiency, Detroit’s 80% of fourth-graders below basic, Rahm Emanuel’s urgency, Mikey Sherrill’s budget address, fake charter laws and fake science of reading bills, and why Jorge thinks the ideological map of the future isn’t left-vs-right — it’s liberalism vs. illiberalism.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ul><li>Jorge’s journey from barely graduating high school to Providence mayor to DFER CEO</li><li>What changed his mind about ed reform while in office — and his final press conference call to charterize the district</li><li>Rhode Island’s most WonkyFolk fun fact: the Senate President is (or was) also the teachers union president</li><li>How the federal scholarship tax credit actually works — and why it’s not a voucher program</li><li>Why Jorge thinks governors have every reason to opt in, and what Jared Polis is modeling in Colorado</li><li>The 30-senator push to sunset the program — and what it says about Democrats’ education reflexes</li><li>Why “money follows the child” is a distinctly progressive idea, not a conservative one</li><li>The generational change Democrats need — and why Pelosi/Schumer aren’t built for it</li><li>Rahm Emanuel’s urgency, Mikey Sherrill’s budget address, and what real leadership on education sounds like</li><li>Fake charter laws, fake science of reading bills, and the sector’s unwillingness to call balls and strikes</li><li>Liberalism vs. illiberalism as the real ideological divide of the future</li><li>Where DFER is headed: from a chapter/legislative model to executive/gubernatorial engagement</li></ul><br/><p></p><p><strong>Show Notes & Resources:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://democratsforeducationreform.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Democrats for Education Reform (DFER)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jorge Elorza & Arne Duncan — Washington Post op-ed on the federal tax credit</a></li><li><a href="https://www.kelly.senate.gov/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Senator Mark Kelly — effort to sunset the federal scholarship tax credit</a></li><li><a href="https://www.colorado.gov/governor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Governor Jared Polis (CO) — opting Colorado into the program</a></li><li><a href="https://www.slowboring.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matt Yglesias — Slow Boring</a></li><li><a href="https://www.klein-thompson.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson — Abundance</a></li></ul><br/><p><strong>Guest: </strong>Jorge Elorza — CEO, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER); former Mayor of Providence, RI</p><p><strong>Hosts: </strong>Jed Wallace (CharterFolk) and Andy Rotherham (Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Bellwether)</p><p>Watch the full video on <a href="https://www.charterfolk.org/captivate-podcast/vol-35-money-follows-the-child/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</p>
March 23, 2026
Vol 34 - It's Really About a Mindset - AI and Education
<p>AI in education — what's working, what's risky, and what charter schools should do next. Jed Wallace and Andy Rotherham are joined by Bellwether's Mary Wells and Marisa Mission for a wide-ranging conversation.</p><p>They dig into how AI tools are actually being used day to day, why "human in the loop" means more than just a review step, and what cognitive science tells us about the real danger of students offloading hard thinking to technology. The conversation also covers the evolving role of teachers, the economic ripple effects of AI, and why the charter school mindset of curiosity and rigor matters more than ever.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ol><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>How Bellwether's team is personally using AI tools like Claude Skills and Gemini Canvas</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>What cognitive offloading means and why it threatens real learning</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>The "ambidextrous adoption" approach to AI in schools</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Where pockets of innovation are emerging — and the equity concerns that come with them</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Dream Charter School's AI readiness curriculum</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>The bimodal classroom: AI-encouraged assignments alongside blue books and pen-and-paper</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Why teacher support and family engagement are critical gaps right now</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>The White House AI Policy Framework and state-level responses</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Will AI cause a white-collar job apocalypse — or fuel entrepreneurship?</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>What charter schools should be doing right now</li></ol><br/><p><strong>Show Notes & Resources:</strong></p><ol><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://bellwether.org/focus-areas/artificial-intelligence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bellwether AI work</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://bellwether.org/ai-newsletter/the-leading-indicator-issue-one/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Leading Indicator: AI in Education newsletter</a> (Marisa Mission & Alex Spurrier)</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://bellwether.org/publications/productive-struggle/?activeTab=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Productive Struggle</a> (Bellwether)</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://bellwether.org/publications/built-for-learning/?activeTab=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Built for Learning case studies</a> (Bellwether)</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://crpe.org/focus_areas/ai-education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robin Lake / CRPE on AI in Education</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://danmeyer.substack.com/p/why-openais-new-math-and-science" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dan Meyer on AI and math</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/moms-liberty-teachers-unions-schools-tech-screen-time-rcna263931" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AFT & Moms for Liberty on screens</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://data.blueroseresearch.org/hubfs/%5BBRR%5D%20AI%20Is%20Colliding%20With%20America's%20Affordability%20Crisis-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Blue Rose Research – AI public opinion</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/03.20.26-National-Policy-Framework-for-Artificial-Intelligence-Legislative-Recommendations.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">White House AI Policy Framework</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/ten-07-25" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DOL AI Literacy Framework</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://juliafreelandfisher.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Julia Freeland Fisher</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://www.chadaldeman.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chad Alderman</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span><a href="https://edunomicslab.org/about-us-2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marguerite Roza / Edunomics Lab</a></li></ol><br/><p><strong>Guests:</strong> Mary Wells (Co-Founder, Bellwether) and Marisa Mission (Bellwether)</p><p><strong>Hosts:</strong> Jed Wallace (CharterFolk) and Andy Rotherham (Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Bellwether)</p><p>Watch the full video on <a href="https://youtu.be/W5hDzAxdLUw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</p><p>WonkyFolk is produced by <a href="https://charterfolk.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CharterFolk</a>.</p>
36 total episodes available
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