Back to School

As students head back to classrooms, host James Patterson welcomes education experts Frederick Hess and Michael McShane to the podcast. We are still finding the "new normal" after Covid lockdown shook our education system—and public confidence in schools. Too often, our schools are guided by ideas developed by policymakers, intellectuals, and administrators who are separated from the needs of the classroom. Ranging from cell phones in class to school choice, from gender theory to administrative bloat, the conversation points in hopeful directions, drawn in part from their recent book, Getting Education Right. Related Links: Frederick Hess and Michael McShane, Getting Education Right "Taking on the College Cartel," Frederick Hess and Michael McShane (Law & Liberty) "Opening Doors for School Choice," Frederick Hess (Law & Liberty) "A Unified Theory of Education," Frederick Hess and Michael McShane (National Affairs) Rick Hess Straight Up (Education Week) Old School with Rick Hess (Education Next) Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he works on K–12 and higher education issues.  Michael Q. McShane is an adjunct fellow in education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and director of national research at EdChoice, where he studies and writes about K–12 education policy, including private and religious schools and the politics of education.