2024 Public Education Program

Public Schools Unite Us: Fighting to Protect This Public Good

September 21, 2024 in Raleigh, NC

Featured speakers

Dr. Jennifer Berkshire: Author – The Education Wars

Dr. Diane Ravitch and Dr. Josh Cowan Discuss Dr. Cowan’s new book: The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers

Dr. Jennifer Berkshire & NC Public Education Advocates: How to Win the Education Wars

Panelists

- Letha Mohammed – Executive Director, Education Justice Alliance
- Marcus Bass, Executive Director, NC Black Alliance
- Dr. Shaneeka Moore-Lawrence, NC PTA President
- Todd Warren, Down Home NC

Speaker bios

Jennifer Berkshire writes about education and politics for the Nation, the New Republic, the Baffler, the New York Times, and other publications. Her new book, The Education Wars – A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, was just published in July, 2024. She is creator and co-host of the education policy podcast “Have You Heard,” she teaches in the Prison Education Program at Boston College. She is the author of two previous books, including A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School (with Jack Schneider).

Diane Ravitch was a Research Professor of Education at New York University from 1995-2020 and is a historian of education. Dr. Ravitch is the nation’s leading advocate for public education. She is the Founder and President of the Network for Public Education (NPE), the single largest organization of parents and teachers and other citizens who are working to stop the privatization of public education. NPEs goal is to preserve, protect and improve public schools. Diane Ravitch’s Blog is dianeravitch.net and has received over 40 million hits. She is the author of numerous books on American education, including Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, and many more.

Dr. Josh Cowen is a professor of education policy at Michigan State University and an author on topics related to education politics, school choice, and culture wars in the United States. He is the founding director and co-director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) from 2016 to 2020. From 2015-2018, he served as co-editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, the flagship peer-reviewed education policy journal in the United States. His new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers is out in September, 2024. He lives in mid-Michigan with his family.

Letha Mohammed – Executive Director, Education Justice Alliance

Letha Muhammad Letha Muhammad is the Co-Executive Director of Education Justice Alliance (EJA), based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Letha represents EJA by serving as co-chair on the coordinating committee for Every Child NC, a statewide coalition working to ensure equitable funding for North Carolina public schools. Letha also co-founded the HEAL Together NC coalition in 2023. A multi-racial coalition working to protect and transform North Carolina public schools.

Marcus Bass, Executive Director, NC Black Alliance

Marcus joined Advance Carolina and the Black Alliance in 2018 after serving as Statewide Campaign Director for voting rights advocacy group Democracy North Carolina. Prior to that Marcus worked for the North Carolina Association of Educators and was a Teacher and Coach in Clinton City Schools. Marcus has served on various boards and commissions across the state and is the former State Youth President for the General Baptist Auxiliary WBH-FMC of NC, Board Chair of Common Cause North Carolina and the NC State Voices affiliate Blueprint North Carolina.

Dr. Shaneeka Moore-Lawrence, NC PTA President

Dr. Shaneeka Moore-Lawrence For 24 years, Dr. Moore-Lawrence has been an educator; her diverse experiences include Sophomore English Teacher, Elementary School Teacher, Literacy Teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal. Currently, she is the Senior Director in Wake County Public Schools leading Title I, ESL, Indian Education, Advanced Learning Services, and several other programs. Dr. Moore-Lawrence is the proud President of North Carolina Parent Teacher Association (NCPTA), the oldest and largest child advocacy organization in North Carolina.

Todd Warren, Down Home NC

Todd Warren is a public school parent, former teacher, and a past president of the Guilford County Association of Educators (GCAE). He currently helps lead Down Home NC’s Statewide Campaigns Team and helped found the H.E.A.L. Together NC coalition. H.E.A.L is a project working to explore what’s possible in uniting the wants and needs of public school stakeholders across lines of race and gender and between rural and urban communities.

2021 Conference

Our 2021 conference — Impact of Privatizing Public Schools — was held on October 9 via Zoom.

View the recording.

Ticket holders received access to the recording via email.

See Conference resources below.

Keynote address

Dr. Noliwe Rooks, Department Head of Africana Studies at Brown University, is the founding director of the Segrenomics Lab. Rooks spoke on research included in her current book, in which she coined the term “segrenomics,” Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education.

Featured presenters

Dr. Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for Public Education (NPE), is a retried principal and middle and high school level educator. Dr. Burris presented her research findings about NC Charter schools detailed in her recent report: Chartered for Profit: The Hidden World of Charter Schools Operated for Financial Gain.

Ricky Hurtado, a new member of the NC House of Representatives, is an educator and co-founder of LatinxEd. He discussed the challenges that educators face in the classroom, the funding needs of our public schools, and legislative bills that impact public education’s teachers, students, and families.

Jane Wettach, a Duke Law School professor, teaches Education Law and directs the Children’s Law Clinic. We had a special program with Jane where she discussed her 2020 study on NC school vouchers that examines how NC’s voucher program is impacting public education.