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Podcast

Joyful classrooms, but zero public transparency: Inside an ESA micro-school | Episode 987 of The Education Gadfly Show

Chandler Fritz Michael J. Petrilli David Griffith, Ph.D. Adam Tyner, Ph.D.
9.24.2025
 

This week, Chandler Fritz, author of Harper’s Magazine’s cover story The Homemade Scholar, shares what he discovered when teaching in an ESA-funded micro-school—including a lackluster curriculum but undeniably joyful kids.

On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner unpacks California’s big school-spending surge—showing that despite major funding increases, starting teacher pay hasn’t risen and staffing levels have barely changed.

Recommended content

  • The Homemade Scholar —Chandler Fritz, Harper’s Magazine
  • The “à la carte education” accountability conundrum —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
  • Student experience data is sending a message. Will we listen? —Dr. Deborah A. Gist for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
  • Why I’m wary of universal education savings accounts —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
  • Doing educational equity right: School finance —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham
  • Teacher Staffing Trends in California: Assessing the Impact of Recent Spending —Julien Lafortune, Iwunze Ugo, and Brett Guinan, PPIC (2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to [email protected]

Chandler Fritz
Chandler Fritz

President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, editor in chief of the Education Gadfly Weekly, host of the…

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David Griffith is the National Research Director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he manages or authors reports on various subjects including charter schools, …

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Adam Tyner was a member of the Fordham Institute's national research team from 2017 to 2025. In 2025 he became executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Education Policy at the University of Oklahoma.

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