Hello everyone! It seems like every single day there is another controversy about public schools. Whether it's about banning books or the curriculum being taught, the media and pundits alike cannot get enough of the discussion. But why? Is it really a fear of what is happening in schools, or is there a different reason? Jessica Piper, a previous middle and high school English teacher and now candidate for Missouri state representative, believes there's a far bigger agenda behind the outrage we are currently hearing about. In this episode, we talk about her experience as an educator, how this has formed her beliefs around politics, and why she believes the cries around Critical Race Theory are much more about profit than the theory itself. We also touch on how privatization is a potential devastation for rural communities—a topic that is increasingly marginalized among more controversial issues.      This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their professional book, Four Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. Four Essential Studies is based on the belief that secondary students can only be prepared for life after high school when we purposefully shift the decision-making in our classrooms over to them. By reimagining how we teach essay, poetry, digital composition, and sustain talk in book clubs, we can ignite student curiosity, independence, and decision-making skills. Penny and Kelly share the strategies and activities they use in their own classrooms over the course of each unit, and show us what is possible when we expect more than compliance from our students. Learn more about how to transform students’ relationship with literacy.  Visit Heinemann.com to download a sample from Four Essential Studies.