As Texas moves into another special session, called by the governor to ram vouchers down our collective throats, Anette visits with Rev. Charles Foster Johnson again, Executive Director of Pastors for Texas Children. 

Once again, the Texas Legislature will determine whether or not Texas slides down the slippery slope of spending taxpayer dollars for the benefit of mostly affluent Texans who already send their children to private school, or sending state-funded debit cards to families who homeschool. Should the Texas House not stand firm against vouchers, the projections are that, not only will this significantly hurt public schools, it will empty the coffers of the state in short time.

Voucher and education research experts mentioned include Dr. Joshua Cowan and Dr. David DeMatthews. Education podcaster mentioned is Jennifer Berkshire with the Have You Heard Podcast. 

As Charlie points out, call your representative to stand against vouchers. Don't let Greg Abbott bully Texas into bad education policy. 

Anette has her a conversation with her dear friend, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, in his final days as President at Amarillo College, before he takes over as Chancellor at Austin Community College. After working together for over twenty years, they've formed a strong friendship they know will continue. Moving from Badgers to River Bats, Anette wishes Russell and family the best in their new journey, As chair of the Amarillo College Board of Regents, Anette will endeavor to find a new college president for AC! Russell, thank you for being my friend.

Anette visits with Pascale Charlot, the Managing Director of the College Excellence Program (CEP) at the Aspen Institute. Amarillo College was just selected as the top college along with Imperial Valley College, both co-winners of the Aspen Prize for College Excellence. Lots of good information is shared as Anette and Pascale discuss the award and the benefits of community colleges.

Pascale is a visionary and outcomes-driven leader deeply committed to student success. An alumna of Aspen’s year-long Rising President Fellowship, Pascale plays a lead role in crafting and overseeing CEP’s strategy to develop a network of transformational college presidents who share a relentless commitment to advancing excellence and equity in student outcomes.  Chief among these programs are Aspen’s Presidential Fellowships, which have graduated over 100 presidents of community colleges that together educate over a million-and-a-half students. In the Fellowships and across CEP’s work, Pascale helps lead efforts to strengthen the inexorable connection between institutional reform and student success.

Prior to joining CEP, Pascale was at Aspen Prize-winning Miami Dade College, where she most recently served as president of the Kendall campus, the largest of the college’s eight.  Pascale was also dean of Miami Dade’s highly regarded Honors College, where she developed and implemented a pathways strategy that increased the number of first-generation students who went on to attain a bachelor’s degree.  Herself a transfer student, Pascale brings substantial expertise to one of Aspen’s core priorities: advancing post-graduation outcomes for students of color and low-income students. Demonstrable student learning, equitable talent development, and social mobility for students and families are key levers that inspire Pascale’s student-centered approach.

A graduate of Duke University and the University of Michigan Law School, Pascale also held leadership roles at both New York University and Rutgers law schools earlier in her career.

A link to the process of selecting the Aspen Prize winner can be found here.

Episode produced by Darwin Carlisle. Music by Bret Boyer.