All Of The Above Podcast

It was all good just a few summers ago! Folks of all backgrounds were marching, corporations were pledging, and America was, well…reckoning. Since the flurry of movement in support of racial justice in the summer of 2020, we have witnessed a severe backlash and regression that most recently has included the federal government attempting to make it illegal to even use the most basic vocabulary of equity and justice in schools. How did we get here, and how can educators survive, resist, and move forward? To help us explore these questions, we’re joined by educator and racial equity coach Joe Truss!! Joe is the founder of Truss Leadership and first appeared on AOTA on the eve of the summer of 2020 to discuss dismantling white supremacy culture in schools. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including new data detailing students’ use of AI for schoolwork and polling that claims students are exposed to “woke” messages from their teachers on a near-daily basis. → Get your Teach t

This Week: The nation’s report card is out, and the results are… meh. Manuel and Jeff get into it briefly before diving more deeply into the latest attacks on public education coming from DC and state governments. The administration handed down three executive orders this week that, if allowed to stand, would have disastrous impacts on the nation’s schools, and in particular on our most marginalized youth (see here, and here). We go deep on the “Ending Radical Indoctrination In K-12 Schooling” order, which mandates the teaching of lies to our children, and is a case study in authoritarian propaganda and anti democratic policymaking. Also, Oklahoma State Supt Ryan Walters furthered his record of hate and bigotry by passing a new rule (which still needs legislative approval) that would require parents in his state to prove citizenship or legal status of their children before enrolling in public school. This is a clear attempt to challenge the long standing precedent in the Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court decision,

This Week: In just the first few days in office, the Trump administration has used the powers of executive orders to enact hateful and violent policies intended to cause harm to marginalized people of all sorts, and enshrine white supremacy in the nation’s system of public schooling.  From their Orwellian press releases, to eliminating DEI offices, to placing individuals identified as having DEI related work on administrative leave, to taking down hundred of websites with resources for schools and colleges to use to promote equity and justice, the war for the soul of education has been ramped up to new heights. But, as bad as it is, all hope is not lost. Manuel and Jeff discuss! WAYS TO HELP WITH THE EATON FIRE IN ALTADENA/PASADENA -- Please consider giving what you can! Here are links to GoFundMe pages set up by Altadena families, links to GoFundMe pages supporting Black families devastated by the Eaton fire, and the Pasadena Educational Foundation’s page set up to benefit Manuel’s school community, which h

This Week: As we celebrate MLK Jr. weekend, we thought it would be apt to have a special re-release of our recent discussion with Jesse Hagopian about his new book, Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education. Nearly half of our nation’s public school children are subject to laws that forbid honest education about the history of racism in this country. Two-thirds of US teachers report self-censoring discussions on race, gender, identity, and sexuality in their classrooms. How did we get here, and how can we collaboratively fight for the truth to be taught in our schools? Educator and activist Jesse Hagopian joins us this week to unpack his new book. Jesse is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, a founding member of Black Lives Matter at School, and the Director for the Zinn Education Project’s “Teaching for Black Lives" campaign.  WAYS TO HELP WITH THE EATON FIRE IN ALTADENA/PASADENA -- Please consider giving what you can! Here are links to GoFundMe pages set up by Altadena families, links

This Week: Everyone has seen the news of the devastating fires that have hit the LA area. Today Manuel shares the perspective of an educator at the front lines, working in the high school that has served the Altadena community for generations. Jeff adds perspective from schools and communities affected by the smoke and ash in Los Angeles, and together we process the meaning of this week’s tragic events.   WAYS TO HELP WITH THE EATON FIRE IN ALTADENA/PASADENA -- Please consider giving what you can! Here are links to GoFundMe pages set up by Altadena families, links to GoFundMe pages supporting Black families devastated by the Eaton fire, and the Pasadena Educational Foundation. MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and d

This Week: We're back for 2025 and we know talking about politics can be a bit, exhausting now. But, all hope is not lost! There’s good news at the state level in CA with new protections for LGBTQ+ students and the educators who support them, improvements to the history curriculum to teach a more honest history of colonialism and segregation, and more! Plus, out of the great state of Arkansas, a federal judge bans the draconian, right wing law that would support citizens to challenge “controversial” books in libraries, and subject librarians to criminal prosecution. Who says all hope is lost? Manuel and Jeff discuss! MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full episodes.  Watch,

Nearly half of our nation’s public school children are subject to laws that forbid honest education about the history of racism in this country. Two-thirds of US teachers report self-censoring discussions on race, gender, identity, and sexuality in their classrooms. How did we get here, and how can we collaboratively fight for the truth to be taught in our schools? Educator and activist Jesse Hagopian joins us this week to unpack his new book, Teach Truth: The Attack on Critical Race Theory and the Struggle for Antiracist Education. Jesse is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, a founding member of Black Lives Matter at School, and the Director for the Zinn Education Project’s “Teaching for Black Lives" campaign. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including schools prepping for upheaval over fears of mass deportations and a new study highlighting the benefits of Ethnic Studies in high schools. → Get your Teach the Truth T-Shirt here! → View this episode on YouTube!

This Week: A fascinating story about what’s happening to higher ed in rural America out of the Hechinger Report reveals that across the country options for rural students are shrinking dramatically, with campuses closing, and dozens of majors and key programs being cut. Enrollment is down, but advocates say the cuts are going beyond the needed adjustments and are leaving rural students -- many of whom are low income, first generation, and students of color -- with a separate and unequal college experience. That’s not to mention what it means to limit the course of study for the nation’s students, especially in the humanities. Manuel and Jeff discuss! MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in b

This Week: We’re tired of talking about right wing nonsense… but they got the former head of the WWE ready to be in charge of the nation’s education system, so we gotta talk about it a little. And, a fascinating story out of NYC about students getting cartoons and screen time instead of outdoor recess. Parents are, rightfully, concerned.  Why does recess matter? Why isn’t the quality of recess higher on our list of priorities when it comes to resources? Manuel and Jeff discuss! MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full episodes.  Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content! Website: https://AOTAshow.com Stream all of our content at: linktr.ee/AO

This Week: Oklahoma State Supt Ryan Walters makes a truly dystopian video that he “mandated” all schools show to the students announcing the creation of a new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism. Trump continues plotting and scheming for his assault on public education with a new-ish 10 point plan, complete with support for book bans, attacks on teacher tenure, teaching white supremacist history, and banning the honest teaching of history. But, at the same time, the march to right wing insanity is hitting notable roadblocks. A federal court ruling out of Louisiana rules that their state’s law requiring the posting of the 10 commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional. With some good news in the face of an onslaught of right wing attacks, all is not lost. Manuel and Jeff discuss! MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above

This Week: It was a rough week y'all. You know it. We know it. The forces of hate and oppression are out here. Trump is going to get rid of the US Dept of Education, vouchers will be had for all, and wokeness will be outlawed forever. Not so fast.  While undoubtedly we took a hit this week, the odds of an impending end to the Dept of Education are not particularly high.  And we saw big wins on education ballot measures across the country, from school construction in CA, to voting down vouchers in many red states, to voters in Mass ending high stakes testing as a grad requirement. So, the struggle for justice remains, and there’s some hope in the mix too.  Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories

This Week: Despite the right-wing hysteria that would have you believe wokeness and DEI are undermining the quality of America’s colleges, it turns out that it’s unqualified rich kids who are buying their way into schools like USC, sneaking in the back door as so-called walk-on athletes. And, a powerful new study from GPSN and the Center for Diversity in Leadership shows that Black and Brown educators in LA are planning to leave the teaching profession within 1-2 years in overwhelming numbers. What does this mean for educators, students, and the field? And what do we do about it?  Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full episodes.  Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure yo

Encampments raided, college presidents sacked, student loan forgiveness struck down, DEI programs abolished, and free speech battles raging–what in the world is going on across our nation’s college campuses? With so many hot button issues impacting higher education today, how should students, families, and folks in the K-12 space navigate discussions and decisions about going to college? This week we’re joined by Kirk Carapezza, the Managing Editor and Correspondent for higher education at GBH News and cohost of the podcast College Uncovered with John Marcus from the Hechinger Report! He shares some of his takeaways from years of reporting on the state of higher education. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including an education titan’s praise of standardized testing and a new law banning legacy admissions. → Get your Teach the Truth T-Shirt here! → View this episode on YouTube! AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 5:50 - Praise for latest test scores in CA 20:24 - Legacy admissions b

This Week: Amidst a culture of short attention spans, TikTok videos, 30 second sound bites, and 24 hour news cycles, it’s perhaps not surprising that the novel is going by the wayside in English classrooms across America. But the reality is a bit more complex than that. Pressure to raise standardized test scores, modern curriculum, and increasing use of computers and tablets to read rather than printed text may also be playing a role. But either way, is the prevalence of students reading excerpts of texts, rather than full texts, just the way things are now, or a loss for society and the nation’s youth? Manuel and Jeff discuss! Als CLICK HERE to register for the 10/16/24 CA Educator Diversity Action Network’s virtual Back2School Event to meet and learn with pioneering leaders from schools and communities across CA and share your thoughts on the issues we can tackle in 2025 and beyond! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching

This Week: A fascinating new study of teacher strikes across America over the last two decades shows that strikes work to a) improve educator wages, b) improve working conditions like class sizes and support services, and c) increase overall education funding. And we’ve all heard it -- “I’m just not a math person” or “I can’t do math.” Our collective problem with poor math identity remains not only pervasive, but is passed from generation to generation. But can we fix this identity problem? Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full episodes.  Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content! Website: https://AOTAshow.com Stream all of our content

This Week: It happened again. Another mass shooting at a school in America, this time in Winder, GA. Another young, disaffected, white, male carries out a rageful act of violence, killing 4 people and injuring several others. Despite being the only country in the world that lives like this, our elected officials continue to fail us all, and force America’s schools to live under a haze of home grown terrorism.  On a more positive note, and to throw it right back in the face of toxic masculinity, California is set to become the latest state to require menstrual education as part of its comprehensive sex ed curriculum for kids in grades 7-12.  Manuel and Jeff discuss! ALSO -- CA educators click here to support Teach Plus’s campaign to have SB 1391 become law, and help us continue to diversify the teacher workforce in our state!  Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-t

This Week: As Kamala picks a former teacher for VP in Coach Walz, there could be… could be, some signs that the right wing fever is breaking in local school board elections in Florida. Maybe. Turns out an endorsement from Ronny D may not be all it’s cracked up to be. And, in hopeful news, some fascinating new federal data shows that America’s schools are, quite literally, the safest they have been over the last two decades with record low levels of things like serious school based violence, gang activity, and theft. That’s right, the schools are doing better than ever. You heard that right.  Hug  a teacher near you. Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full episodes.  Watch, l

This Week: California’s governor wrote a letter to school leaders this week, urging urgent action on banning cell phones from the classroom. Citing ample data showing that increased use of cell phones leads to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, as well as data from the US Surgeon General’s 2023 report on the dangers of social media for youth, Newsome did not mince words, and asked school and school system leaders to take action even ahead of any future legislation on this issue statewide.  In addition, Oklahoma’s right wing state Superintendent Ryan Walters, notorious for his recent push to force teachers to teach the bible in public schools, is facing investigation and possible impeachment from his republican colleagues. Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA po

This Week: New guidelines for Title IX implementation and enforcement went live on August first, at least for about half of the country. The US Dept of Education’s plan to undo some of the damage that Trump and noted AOTA show hater Betsy Devos did during their tenure has several important provisions that offer greater protection to LGBTQ students, and greater accountability on institutions of higher ed to protect women subject to sexual harassment and assault. But at least 26 states have sued in federal court to block implementation of the new rules, putting their future in doubt.  Also, as the school year kicks off here in SoCal, we talk about big (if potentially crazy) ideas to address the nation’s challenges with chronic absenteeism.  Mauel and Jeff discuss!   Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA po

This Week: Sometimes research tells us something new. And sometimes it confirms what we already thought was true. That’s the case this week, as a new study from UCLA and Penn provides evidence of the “transformational” impact of a Los Angeles program that provided families in poverty with cash they can use to meet their needs. Benefits included housing stability, food stability, child engagement with enrichment activities, the ability to escape abusive relationships, the ability to withstand a $400 family emergency, and more.  In addition, with the start of the school year right around the corner here in SoCal, we dig into the age-old question of when the school year should start, and why it’s been creeping earlier and earlier.  Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com  Passing Period is an AOTA podcast extra