Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
There is a very widespread belief that the American education system (especially public education) is broken. What exactly is the purpose of education in the twenty-first century, with the ubiquity of electronic access to information and ideas? What sort of a young adult are we trying to construct through our education system? Are we too wedded to education models that were devised at a very different time in American history, before the triumph of media–i.e., television, the internet, the digitization of culture, the voraciousness of social media, and the visible decline of ethics, civics, and the humanities in our schools? If we wish to re-invent and re-invigorate public education, where do we begin?
Humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson is joined by Dr. Jon Valant, the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, and Dr. Nate Malkus, a senior fellow and the deputy director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Don't miss this program as Jenkinson, Malkus and Valant delve into exploring if our K-12 education system is preparing students for our world today.
Chapters
0:00 Education quiz and audience poll
1:43 Road map for the discussion
3:38 Jefferson, history, and the purpose of public education
8:28 Horace Mann, John Dewey, and civic education
11:33 David Brooks clip on meritocracy and inequality
13:10 Why the decline started before COVID
17:03 Education politics, inequality, and public distrust
21:29 Phones, algorithms, and student decline
29:04 Grade inflation and hard truths for parents
34:06 Test scores, NAEP trends, and international rankings
43:08 The widening gap between top and bottom students
47:19 What schools are expected to do beyond academics
55:19 Federal, state, and local roles in school funding
57:24 Phil Coleman on Eagle County school funding
1:02:22 What should schools actually teach?
1:06:13 School choice, vouchers, and public school flight
1:14:44 AI in schools: promise, fear, and policy
1:20:42 Audience Q&A begins
#Education #PublicSchools #SchoolChoice #AIinEducation #EducationPolicy
There is a very widespread belief that the American education system (especially public education) is broken. What exactly is the purpose of education in the twenty-first century, with the ubiquity of electronic access to information and ideas? What sort of a young adult are we trying to construct through our education system? Are we too wedded to education models that were devised at a very different time in American history, before the triumph of media–i.e., television, the internet, the digitization of culture, the voraciousness of social media, and the visible decline of ethics, civics, and the humanities in our schools? If we wish to re-invent and re-invigorate public education, where do we begin?
Humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson is joined by Dr. Jon Valant, the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, and Dr. Nate Malkus, a senior fellow and the deputy director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Don't miss this program as Jenkinson, Malkus and Valant delve into exploring if our K-12 education system is preparing students for our world today.
Chapters
0:00 Education quiz and audience poll
1:43 Road map for the discussion
3:38 Jefferson, history, and the purpose of public education
8:28 Horace Mann, John Dewey, and civic education
11:33 David Brooks clip on meritocracy and inequality
13:10 Why the decline started before COVID
17:03 Education politics, inequality, and public distrust
21:29 Phones, algorithms, and student decline
29:04 Grade inflation and hard truths for parents
34:06 Test scores, NAEP trends, and international rankings
43:08 The widening gap between top and bottom students
47:19 What schools are expected to do beyond academics
55:19 Federal, state, and local roles in school funding
57:24 Phil Coleman on Eagle County school funding
1:02:22 What should schools actually teach?
1:06:13 School choice, vouchers, and public school flight
1:14:44 AI in schools: promise, fear, and policy
1:20:42 Audience Q&A begins
#Education #PublicSchools #SchoolChoice #AIinEducation #EducationPolicy
