Lauren May, Director of Advocacy at Step Up for Students – the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization (SGO) – joins the podcast this week to dispel education freedom myths, explain how Florida became a national leader in educational choice, and discuss what to expect from the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit. Lauren shares her journey from educator to advocate and describes the evolution of Florida’s school choice landscape, from small scholarship programs launched 25 years ago to universal education savings accounts (ESAs) and other programs serving more than 500,000 students today.

Florida Scholarship Data

Why Catholic Schools Are Growing in Florida: Five Things to Know

Florida’s à la carte learning boom: A special report

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Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute. You can learn more about DFI at DFIPolicy.org.

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Will AI revolutionize education or steal students’ opportunity and ability to learn? Andy Smarick, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, worries that AI is a threat to learning, and we’re just letting students outsource their education to AI tools rather than develop essential skills and knowledge. We discuss the education world’s long history of embracing the latest fad, whether it’s whole language instruction, open classrooms, ubiquitous screens, and now AI, and we dig into Andy’s call for a two-year moratorium on AI in both K-12 and higher education.

It’s Time for a Moratorium on AI in Schools

The 4 Crises of American Education: Serious people need to take this seriously

White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools

Preserving a Critical National Asset: America’s Disadvantaged Students and the Crisis in Faith-based Urban Schools

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Visit our website: DFIPolicy.org

💡 Stay Connected:

• Follow us on Instagram: @DFIPolicy
• Follow us on Twitter: @DFIPolicy
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• Subscribe to our YouTube channel (@DFIPolicy) for future episodes!

📩 Contact Us:
If you have feedback or suggestions for future podcasts, please reach out to us at Podcast@DFIPolicy.org.

🎧 Thank You for Listening:
Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute. You can learn more about DFI at DFIPolicy.org.

If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a thumbs up, share it, and subscribe for more insights into education law and policy. Thank you for your support!

Erika Sanzi joins the podcast to discuss the urgent need for states and school districts to undertake “legal housekeeping” and stop violating federal laws. She shares examples of school board policies that hide information from parents, discriminate based on race and sex, and prove that indoctrination in schools is pervasive, and not just limited to certain areas. Erika shares her journey as a teacher, school board member, and parent, and her role in the parental rights movement. Erika is Senior Director of Communications at Defending Education.

Defending Education's IndoctriNation Map: https://defendinged.org/map/

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Visit our website: DFIPolicy.org

💡 Stay Connected:

• Follow us on Instagram: @DFIPolicy
• Follow us on Twitter: @DFIPolicy
• Follow us on Facebook: /DFIPolicy
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel (@DFIPolicy) for future episodes!

📩 Contact Us:
If you have feedback or suggestions for future podcasts, please reach out to us at Podcast@DFIPolicy.org.

🎧 Thank You for Listening:
Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute. You can learn more about DFI at DFIPolicy.org.

If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a thumbs up, share it, and subscribe for more insights into education law and policy. Thank you for your support!