“The Citizen Stewart Show” is an independent, pull-no-punches podcast about the perils and promise of education and democracy. Hosted by Chris “Citizen” Stewart, CEO of Brightbeam, a nonprofit national network of activists fighting for educational opportunity and justice for every child. And co-hosted by Ravi Gupta, former Obama staffer and superintendent of a network of charter schools in the South. “The Citizen Stewart Show” will bring good humor and analysis to the dark forces keeping our students, schools, and democracy mired in counterproductive politics. No headline or issue is off limits, because education is at the heart of everything in America.
Episodes
EP 7 | Broken Sped, AARP For Parents, and Supercharged Tutoring
This week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi discussed…
What’s making them mad:
- Public Schools Are NYC’s Main Youth Mental Health System. Where Kids Land Often Depends on What Their Parents Can Pay (ProPublica, 11/17/22)
What’s making them think:
Parents need their own AARP (Atlantic, 11/18/22)
What’s making them hopeful:
- $10 Million For 31 Groups Working to Make Tutoring More Available & Affordable (The 74, 11/22/22)
EP 6 | Bribery in Michigan, Activism in Public Education, and Charter Schools Gaining Students in NYC
This week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi discussed…
What’s making them mad:
Former President of the Madison District Public Schools Board of Education and a Local Contractor Charged in $560,000 Bribery Scheme (DOJ, 7/14/22)
What’s making them think:
Public Education Is Drifting From Its Founding Ideals And Public Purpose (Fordham Institute, 11/17/22)
What’s making them hopeful:
As New York City Schools Face a Crisis, Charter Schools Gain Students (NYT, 11/21/22)
EP 5 | Corruption in Stockton, the Math Backlash Cycle, and Upending Traditional Subject Structure
This week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi discussed…
What’s making them mad: Corruption in Stockton
Incompetence Or Corruption At Stockton Unified; It’s Got To Be One Or The Other (Stocktonia, 6/22/22)
Possible Financial Catastrophe: Grand Jury Details Stockton Unified School District’s Money Mismanagement (NBC, 6/17/22)
What’s making them think: The Math Backlash Cycle
How Math Became an Object of the Culture Wars (New Yorker, 11/15/22)
The $1.1 Billion Math Solution? Gates Foundation Makes Math Its Top K-12 Priority (The 74, 10/19/22)
And what’s making them hopeful: Upending Traditional Subject Structure
Rethinking High School: Upending Traditional Subject Structure in Indiana (The 74, 11/15/22)
Ep 4 | The Midterm Elections, Smartphones in Schools, and Eugenics in Standardized TestingThis week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi debated…
Turnout for Young People Was the Second Highest Its Been in the Past 30 Years (NPR, 11/10/22)
The School-Choice Election Wave (Wall Street Journal, 11/10/22)
GOP School Boards: How Republicans Fared in School Board Elections All Over the Country (USA Today, 11/9/22)
This School Took Away Smartphones. The Kids Don’t Mind. (Wall Street Journal, 11/5/22)
Take Away Their Cell Phones (Education Next)
Why Aren’t We Talking About Eugenics in School Assessments? (Learning Equity Center)
Why the Academic Achievement Gap is a Racist Idea (Black Perspectives, 10/20/16)
The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing (NEA, 3/20/21)
Ep. 3 – Education Culture Warriors in Virginia, Student ‘Peace Warriors’ in Chicago, and Racial Preference in College Admissions
This week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi discussed…
What’s making them mad:
Youngkin’s Education Tip Line Gripes: ‘Beowulf,’ Masks and ‘Grooming’ (Washington Post, 11/3/22)
How Education Culture Wars Have Shaped the Midterms (Vox, 11/4/22)
What’s making them hopeful:
Student ‘Peace Warriors’ at Chicago’s West Side Schools Spread Message of Nonviolence (Chalkbeat, 11/3/22)
Kids Were Fighting in School. Dads Began Patrolling Campus, and the Violence Stopped (Washington Post, 10/28/21)
And what’s making them think:
Why Randi Weingarten Supports Harvard’s Discrimination (WSJ, 10/30/22)
Ep. 2 – Abbott Elementary and the Charter School Debate, LGBTQ Harassment in Schools, Mississippi’s Test Score Success, and COVID School Closures
This week on The Citizen Stewart Show, Chris and Ravi discussed…
What’s making them angry:
Abbott Elementary misrepresenting charter schools in “Wrong Delivery” (9/28/22)
Charter Schools Get Better Results with Less Money Than Government‐Run Schools (Cato Institute, 10/10/19)
There Are Just 90 LGBTQ School Board Members. Half Were Threatened, Harassed (The 74, 10/25/22)
‘Unsafe, Unwelcoming’: LGBTQ Students Report Facing Hostility at School (Chalkbeat, 10/25/22)
What’s making them hopeful:
Mississippi Ranks No. 1 in Nation for Score Gains on National Assessment of Educational Progress (MSAchieves, 10/30/19)
And what’s making them think:
School Closures Were a Failed Policy (The Atlantic, 10/26/22)
Ep. 1 – Abuse in Schools, Chinese Immersion Schools, Outcome vs Equity Debate
- Teachers Who Sexually Abuse Students Still Find Classroom Jobs (USA Today, 12/22/16)
- LAUSD Has Paid Out More Than $300 Million Over Sex Abuse (LA Times, 5/14/16)
- $52-Million Settlement for Kids Sexually Abused by former L.A. Unified Wrestling Coach (LA Times, 10/12/22)
- Why Oakland Parents Are Flocking to a Chinese-Immersion School (The New Yorker, 10/18/22)
- Why It’s Time to Talk About Equity and Excellence (Ed Post, 9/28/22)
- Abbott Elementary S2 E2: “Wrong Delivery”, 9/28/22 (watch here)
- Charter Schools Get Better Results with Less Money Than Government‐Run Schools (Cato Institute, 10/10/19)
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