Reason.tv - Topics

Greg Lukianoff: How Colleges Fight Free Speech

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT

“You can get in trouble for saying almost anything these days on a college campus,” says Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Lukianoff’s latest book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, discusses 11 years of free speech restrictions and the how college bureaucrats have hampered open debate and encouraged a culture of uncritical thinking.

Reason correspondent Kennedy sat down with Lukianoff at FreedomFest to discuss the book, his work at FIRE, and what students can do to fight back.    

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by over 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. ReasonTV spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. For an ever-growing playlist, go here.

About 4 minutes.

Shot by Tracy Oppenhiemer and Alex Manning. Edited by Joshua Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to our YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.

Surprise: Economic Mobility is Alive and Well in America!

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:18:00 EDT

"You can be concerned that there's not enough [economic] mobility or enough opportunity, but you don't have to also believe that things are getting worse."

So says Scott Winship of the centrist Brookings Institution.

Despite having a wealth of empirical evidence on his side, it's a lonely position. Researchers, writers, and politicians on the political right (think Charles Murray in his new book Coming Apart and former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum) and on the left (Timothy Noah in The Great Divergence and President Barack Obama) are convinced that economic mobility is shrinking.

In a series of provocative essays in a wide array of outlets, Winship demonstrates that while income inequality may indeed be growing (especially at the top end of things), mobility is not declining. As he wrote earlier this year in an article at National Review,

Using...two National Longitudinal Survey data sets, I can compare children born between 1962 and 1964 to children born between 1980 and 1982, observing their parents’ incomes when they were 14 to 16 and their own incomes twelve years later when they were 26 to 28.

In contrast to [President Obama's and other's claims] of declining mobility, I found that upward mobility from poverty to the middle class rose from 51 percent to 57 percent between the early-’60s cohorts and the early-’80s ones. Rather than assert that mobility has increased, I want to simply say — at this stage of my research (which is ongoing) — that it has not declined.
If I include households that reported negative or no income, the rise in upward mobility I find is only from 51 percent to 53 percent, which is not a statistically meaningful increase. But the data provide absolutely no evidence that economic mobility declined, whereas the president said it had fallen by ten percentage points.

Winship sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie to talk about why people mistake growth in income inequality for decreases in economic mobility and how mobility might be increased from where it's been for the past 40 or 50 years.

About 5.28 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher; camera by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Matt Ridley on Ideas having Sex, Free Trade, & Apocalyptic Science w/ Reason's Kennedy

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

“[Some people] simply don’t believe that when two people trade one is not ripping the other off,” exclaims Matt Ridley, zoologist and author of The Rational Optimist. "A big problem with the world is that human beings find positive sum games difficult to understand."

Ridley sat down with Reason's Kennedy to discuss his thoughts on free trade, ideas having sex and the irrationality of apocalyptic science.

About 7 minutes.

Filmed by Anthony Fisher and Jim Epstein. Edited by Joshua Swain.

For more Ridley and Reason.tv click here and here.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Puerto Rico's Infrastructure Reniassance - David Alvarez on Public-Private Investment

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"People were thinking that we were just selling the schools," head of Puerto Rico's public-private partnership program David Álvarez admits, "we explained that the private sector was just building and doing infrastructure."

"You've even run TV commercials," Reason's director of government reform Leonard Gilroy responds, "how many of you have seen TV commercials in your jurisdiction on some new innovative government program?"

Through Puerto Rico's Public-Private Partnerships Authority and public communication, Álvarez works to modernize government programs and public infrastructure through the private sector investment. Álvarez spoke at Reason Weekend 2012, Reason Foundation's annual donor event, which took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Under Luis Fortuño governorship, the PPPA has revitalized pubic schools, re-managed waste treatment facilities and toll roads, and continues to push to reform government's oversight of the Luis Muñoz Marin International airport and juvenile correction centers.

Álvarez takes Q&A from the audience 30 minutes in.

About 43 minutes.

Filmed by Joshua Swain and Anthony Fisher. Edited by Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Lisa Snell Discusses the Failure of the Eduational Program "Head Start" with John Stossel

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Foundation's director of education and child welfare Lisa Snell appeared on Stossel's "No They Can't" special to discusses ineffectiveness and heavy tax burden of Head Start, the federal program that promotes school readiness. Air Date: April 2, 2012.

Approximately 3.05 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Is Bullying an Epidemic?! Nick Gillespie on Fox & Friends

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on Fox & Friends to talk about whether youth bullying a rational epidemic or an exaggerated panic. Gillespie's recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, "Stop Panicking About Bullies," argued efforts to intervene in school bullying creates more problems than it solves.

Approximately 3.30 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Student Loans Burdening Seniors and Preschoolers?! Lisa Snell Discusses the Education Monopoly on Fox Business

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Foundation's director of education and child welfare Lisa Snell appeared on Fox Business to discusses how giving parents control over their child's education fund and introducing competition among schools would bring prices down and quality up. Air Date: April 2, 2012.

Approximately 4.44 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

John Stossel on the Successes of Freedom in Education

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:00:00 EDT

"It shows how horrible things were, that it took this long for this eminently sensible thing to happen" said Fox Business host John Stossel of school choice in education.

Stossel made a speech at Reason Weekend 2012, Reason Foundation's annual donor event, about the successes of freedom in education. He talked about trying to update his 20/20 special, "Stupid in America," and not being able to do it, visiting Harlem schools full of kids ready to learn and why libertarians oppose a single payer system in health-care but cheer it in education.

About 3:00 minutes. Filmed by Joshua Swain and Anthony Fisher. Edited by Paul Detrick.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Teachers Union and NAACP Sue NY Charter School: An Update on Bob Bowdon's Choice Media TV

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"The teachers union in New York City got together with the NAACP and sued to essentially kick charter schools out of buildings," says Bob Bowdon, founder of education reform homepage Choice Media TV.

Bowdon talks about the implications of this lawsuit and also about other education stories that his team has covered. He discusses one report addressing the racial achievement gap in Seattle, in which black kids from Africa performed better academically than black kids from America.

"This kind of data was shocking to see," Bowdon says. "In this scenario it's not about race it's about culture, and what it essentially showed is that culture matters."

Bowdon also talks about his transition to new media and its advantages in today's journalism industry.

About 5 minutes. Produced by Tracy Oppenheimer; Shot by Sharif Matar.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Mark Frauenfelder on DIY Super-Humanism, Unschooling and the Future of Print Journalism

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EDT

"You know, I studied mechanical engineering in school and I ended up becoming a journalist. I can name a dozen people right now that I think are amazing people who didn't go to college," says editor of Boing Boing Mark Frauenfelder.

He sat down with managing editor of Reason.com Tim Cavanaugh to talk about alternatives to public school and education in the real world.

Frauenfelder is also the editor of Make magazine, whose newest issue takes a look at do-it-yourself superhumanism, a way of modifying human capabilities through gadgets. Some of the gadgets include a device to play Guitar Hero only using the muscles in your arm and an ankle strap that directs you to where you want to go using cell phone vibraters and GPS.

Cavanaugh and Frauenfelder finally discuss the future of print journalism and why putting a magazine out in 2012 is still a good idea.

About 9:48 minutes.

Camera by Tracy Oppenheimer, Paul Detrick, and Zach Weismueller. Edited by Detrick.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Adrian Moore Discusses California's Raising Tuition Rates on Fox Business

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Vice President of Research Adrian Moore appeared on Fox Business to discuss California's skyrocketing tuitions for public colleges and how government subsides have only made things worse. Air date: March 16, 2012.

Approximately 3.20 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel for automatic updates when new content is posted.

Milton & Rose Friedman's Legacy of School Reform

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

"We have a simple problem in this country," says Robert C. Enlow, president of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. "And that's a monopoly. It's not the people in the system. It's the system itself."

How bad is the problem? Consider this: Since 1970, direct per-pupil spending on K-12 public schools has more than doubled in inflation-adjusted dollars while educational outcomes for graduation high school seniors have remained flat at best.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006) introduced the concept of school vouchers in a 1955 essay and, with his wife Rose (1910-2009), created the foundation that bears their name in 1996. Based in Indianapolis, the Friedman Foundation promotes "universal school choice as the most effective and equitable way to improve the quality of K-12 education in America."

Despite resistance from teachers unions, legislators, parents at well-funded and high-performing schools, and other entrenched interests, school choice is booming in the United States, with the Wall Street Journal dubbing 2011,"the year of school choice."

Last year, eight new programs were created and 11 existing ones were strengthened or expanded, meaning that students and parents in a total of 12 states plus the District of Columbia could participate in school choice programs that have access to some $1 billion in funds. Charter schools - publicly funded schools of choice that receive a fraction of the per-pupil spending given to traditional schools in exchange for greater curricular freedom - didn't exist until 1996. Now, over 2 million students are enrolled in charter schools, which claim higher than 10 percent of total enrollments in over 100 cities. Nearly 2 million children are home schooled and innovative new choice programs including virtual schools, blended learning, and education savings accounts, where a parent can spend their students education dollars on multiple providers, are becoming an everyday reality.

School choice is winning not just in the marketplace of ideas but in the marketplace for education.

Robert C. Enlow is the president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation. Reason sat down with Enlow at the start of National School Choice Week in New Orleans to talk about Choice has made.

Reason Foundation’s education archives are here. Reason magazines education coverage is here. Reason.tv’s education videos are here.

About 6 minutes.

Filmed by Tracy Oppenheimer Sharif Matar; Edited by Sharif Matar.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Will More Federal Money Help Our Schools? Peter Suderman on Fox Business

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

President Obama wants more federal tax-dollars going to teachers as a way of improving education. Reason associate editor Peter Suderman appeared on Fox Business' Power and Money says the problems are not in spending but in heavy-handed bureaucracy and regulation. Airdate Feb 7, 2012.

Aproximately 4 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

There is Hope for Education in America! Andrew Campanella Tells Us Why

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

"We can't do this to kids. We are paying far too much money for a public education system that isn't working," says Vice President of National School Choice Week Andrew Campanella.

Everyone knows that the U.S. education system is in trouble. Campanella offers a few words on how school choice week can help with promoting "access to better options and empowering parents and kids."

According to Campanella, the U.S. ranks 35th in the world in math and literacy.

"Other countries are not just nipping at our heels educationally, they've lapped us," Campanella says.

Campanella contends that school choice offers real solutions to raising the bar and educating the next generation, and that it's not just empty words.

Reason on education.

About 3 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason's YouTube Channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Follow Reason on Twitter.

3 Reasons School Choice is Growing

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

"We take for granted in our lives, choice, in every othere area, whether it's Pop Tarts or cereal or cell phones. But really education is the most important thing," said Reason's Director of Education Lisa Snell, "Especially as a parent, you want your kids to have a solid education."

Snell makes the case that school choice is now at a tipping point. In the United States, more charter schools are cropping up, while tax dollars and voucher systems are now allowing the money to follow the child. Snell says that there is evidence supporting that these new educational options are effective, and less costly, in improving the quality of K-12 education.

"Kids in America have more choices today than they've ever had before," said Snell, "Every empirical study shows a positiive effect, and no study has found a negative effect."

National School Choice Week is Jan. 22-28, and has hundreds of events scheduled promoting these ideas.

About 7 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar and interviewed by Tracy Oppenheimer.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

What We Saw at National School Choice Week Kickoff in New Orleans

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST

"I think we ought to give our children the best we possibly can and I think we're moving in that direction," says renowned political operative James Carville. "Yes, I'm very excited about it."

Reason caught up with the Louisiana native at the New Orleans kickoff event for National School Choice Week (NSCW), which runs from January 22-28 and features hundreds of events around the country designed to increase support for allowing parents to pick what schools their children attend. The Big Easy was the ideal location for the event as all children attend schools of choice in New Orleans, a radical - and so far incredibly sucessful - response to decades of failed approaches and the devasation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

Carville emceed an event that also featured performers such as The Temptations, Trombone Shorty, and Ellis Marsalis along with speakers such as MSNBC's Michelle Bernard, former Arizona education head Lisa Graham Keegan, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"National School Choice Week gives us an unprecedented opportunity to shine an effective spotlight on the need for enhanced educational options for parents," said Andrew Campanella, Vice President of Public Affairs for National School Choice Week.

Reason on education.

About 5 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason's YouTube Channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Follow Reason on Twitter.

Government Tracking Our Kids?! - Lisa Snell Discusses Student Privacy on CNN's OutFront

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason Foundation's Director of Education Lisa Snell discuss how schools collecting personal information on students would only reduce privacy and create stereotypes instead of benefiting their education as the federal government claims the program is for on CNN's OutFront. Air Date: December 29, 2011.

About 4 minutes.Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel.

3 Reasons We Shouldn't Bail Out Student Loan Borrowers

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST

"3 Reasons We Shouldn't Bail Out Student Loan Borrowers" is written and narrated by Nick Gillespie and produced by Meredith Bragg.

About 3.33 minutes long. Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

As the cumulative total of student loan borrowing approaches $1 trillion dollars, calls to forgive some or all of that debt are mounting. Federally guaranteed student loans make up more than half that total and Barack Obama is pushing to cap the amount any borrower must pay back in a given year and forgive outstanding balances after 20 years.

Among Occupy Wall Street protesters, calls to bail out student loan holders are arguably the single-most voiced demand and sites such as Forgive Student Loan debt beat the drum for immediate and widespread relief.

But forgiving student loan debt is a very bad idea for at least three reasons.

1. These loans are voluntary. All borrowers are excrutiatingly well-informed of how much they’re borrowing and how much they’re going to have to pay back.

About half of all college students take out loans and when they do, every lender clearly spells out exactly how much you’re on the hook for and what your monthly payments are going to be after you leave school.

Critics say that 18-year-olds don’t understand what they’re getting into and shouldn’t be held accountable for their decisions. But that’s an argument against letting kids attend college, not against letting them borrow against future earnings to get a degree that will increase lifetime earnings by somewhere between about $280,000 and $1 million.

2. The amounts being borrowed are hardly overwhelming. While the cumulative total of all college-related debt is huge – approaching a trillion dollars, it’s bigger than credit-card debt – it’s not so big for individuals. The typical college graduate who borrowed money to attend graduatesowing about $25,000. They’ve got a minimum of 10 years to pay back that amount and the repayment schedule can be extended and modified for a wide variety of reasons.

The monthly payment for $25,000 in student loans at going rates comes to around $290 a month. That’s not chump change. But given that the that college grads have unemployment rates that are less than half the national average and that the average salary offer for graduating seniors is almost $50,000, the loan amount isn’t so bad either.

3. Bailouts are never a good idea. Like Tea Party activists, Occupy Wall Street protesters are right to rail against bailouts for big banks and financial institutions that are politically connected. But student loan forgiveness advocates are wrong to perpetuate yet another cycle of bailouts. It’s never right to socialize losses while privatizing gains. That’s what the banks did – they risked their money on stupid investments and then got made whole at the expense of taxpayers. Student loan forgiveness is simply another version of the same swindle. And it offloads the costs of other people’s decisions onto taxpayers, who guarantee federally backed student loans.

College is an important decision – and it’s made even more expensive by heavily subsidized loans. But letting people off the hook for loans they made with full knowledge of the costs will not only dissuade anyone from lending to students with no collateral other than their future work output. It will make it that much harder to argue against the next call for bailouts from the next group of special interests.

Nick Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv and the co-author with Matt Welch of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America. Follow him on Twitter by going here.

Singularity University: A School for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Change the World

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST

Founded in 2009 by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis, Singularity University is a start-up university in Silicon Valley. SU's mission is "...to assemble, educate and inspire a cadre of leaders who strive to understand and facilitate the development of exponentially advancing technologies to address humanity's challenges."

Singularity University is not your father's college.

In August of 2011, Reason.tv's Paul Feine and Alex Manning traveled to Singularity University to get to know a few of the 80 students who participated in SU's 10-week interdisciplinary summer graduate program. We encountered a fascinating group of young entrepreneurs who have big plans to use technology to help the world's poor…and make a profit!

Approximately 6 minutes.

Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Nick Gillespie Addresses Occupy Wall Street's Call for Student Loan Bailouts on Freedom Watch

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared on Freedom Watch, to discuss why the government should not be bailing out student loans despite Occupy Wall Street protesters' whims and an increasing default rate. Air Date: October 25, 2011.

Approximately 5 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Steven Brill on How to Fix Public Schools

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT

"[Teaching] is the only workplace, the only occupation, where by and large you are not paid, promoted, recognized, measured in any way having to do with your performance, only having to do with how long you've been breathing," says journalist and media entrepreneur Steven Brill.

His new book, Class Warfare, chronicles the rise of a reform movement that's bringing a measure of accountability and choice to public schools. The book grew out of Brill's widely read 2009 New Yorker piece about the "rubber room," a holding pen for New York City teachers who couldn't be fired after they were removed from their classrooms for poor performance.

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Brill at his office in New York City.

Approximately 7 minutes.

Camera by Jim Epstein and Anthony Fisher; edited by Epstein.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive immediate updates when new material goes live.

Lee Doren - Author of "Please Enroll Responsibly" and How the World Works

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Lee Doren is a former think tanker who now runs the YouTube channel How the World Works. He’s also taken to digital self-publishing; his first ebook, Please Enroll Responsibly: Avoiding Indoctrination at College, was released in August.

Doren has described the book as a “helmet for higher education,” and says he was inspired to write it by emails from parents and students asking him how to deal with an overtly progressive college faculty.

Doren also describes the creation of How the World Works, which he started in 2008. Since then, his series of two-minute videos about his political and economic beliefs has garnered 36,000 subscribers and invitations to speak to a variety of web and broadcast news outlets.

Interview by Reason's Nick Gillespie Shot and edited by Joshua Swain.

About 4.14 minutes long.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

How School Choice & Privatization Can Help Fix America: Lisa Snell & Harris Kenny at FreedomFest

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EDT

"School choice is winning, in America, folks," argues Reason Foundation education analyst Lisa Snell, who tallies up all the ways that voucher programs, charter schools, and more are making incredible improvements in the quality of American education. "We're broke," explains her Reason colleague, Harris Kenny, who says that privatizing and contracting-out many jobs done by public-sector employees will not only save money but increase service levels for taxpayers.

Snell and Kenny spoke as part of the first "Reason Day" at FreedomFest. Reason magazine editor and Declaration of Independents co-author Matt Welch moderates the discussion. Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 libertarians and advocates of limited government. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. For an ever-growing playlist, go here now.

About 1 Hour and 40 minutes. Shot by Alex Manning and Zach Weissmueller and edited by Sharif Matar.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Matt Welch Talks School Choice with Journalist Michelle Bernard

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EDT

At FreedomFest in July, Reason's Matt Welch talked with journalist and school choice advocate Michelle Bernard. Bernard explains how she got into the school choice movement as well as where she sees the movement in five years.

Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Jim Epstein. Edited by Paul Detrick. About 5:30 minutes.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Bob Bowdon: What's Next for School Choice - and New Media

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EDT

At July's FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Bob Bowdon, director of the explosive school-choice film The Cartel.

Bowdon's new venture is Choicemedia.tv, an investigative video website dedicated to education reform "the way ESPN is dedicated to sports or Bloomberg to finance," says Bowdon. The news service will launch in early September and will focus not just on stories of waste, fraud, and abuse but upbeat stories of innovation and success. Bowdon argues that new media is the best way to tell the stories about the ways in which the old education establishment is being upended by forces of choice and competition.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Zach Weissmueller and edited by Anthony L. Fisher.

About 5 minutes long.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Held every July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is an annual gathering of about 2,000 free-market and libertarian enthusiasts. This year's speakers included Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, Sen. Rand Paul, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and scores of others. Reason.tv conducted interviews with more than two dozen speakers, which we'll be releasing over the next several weeks. Our growing playlist can be watched online here.

Nick Gillespie Discusses Obama's No Child Left Behind Waivers with Judge Napolitano

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared on Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch to discuss the Obama administration granting waivers on No Child Left Behind and how voters are growing tired of empty promises by both political parties. Air Date: August 9, 2011.

Approximately 4.30 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Michelle Fields Discusses Teacher Tenure with Judge Napolitano

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Journalist Michelle Fields discusses her interview with Matt Damon and how teachers unions and government bureaucracy is harming education with Judge Napolitano. Air date: August 5, 2011.

Approximately 4.12 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel for automatic updates when new content is posted.

Michelle Fields Discusses the Lowest Approval Rating for Congress on the Alyona Show

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Journalist Michelle Fields discusses a CBS/New York Times poll that 82% of Americans dissaprove of Congress and her viral hit interview with Matt Damon on the Alyona Show. Air date: August 5, 2011.

Approximately 4.12 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel for automatic updates when new content is posted.

Federal Education Policy with Former Assistant Secretary of Education Bill Evers

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Does the Obama Administration want to create a national education policy akin to France's Ministry of Education? According to Bill Evers, Former US Assistant Secretary of Education and current Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, that is exactly what they are attempting to do.

Evers sat down with Reason Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward to discuss current federal education policy, the role of the Department of Education, and synonyms for “school vouchers.”

Approx. 7:20 minutes.

Edited by Meredith Bragg. Camera by Meredith Bragg and Josh Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Dick Morris on School Choice

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:30:00 EDT

At FreedomFest in July, Reason's Matt Welch talked with political consultant and Fox News contributor Dick Morris about the school choice movement.

Morris argues that past reforms - such as increased spending, changes in curriculum, and standardized testing, have failed because they don't create the sort of competition and innovation that would come with the implementation of robust school choice that is already happening around the country. The former adviser to Bill Clinton believes school choice is a "game-changer" regarding partisan voting patterns, with Democratic-leaning women voters increasingly interested in broadening the ways in which K-12 education is delivered. As important, he says that the once-immoveable object of the teacher's union "ain't so immoveable."

Shot by Jim Epstein and edited by Anthony L. Fisher. About 2.30 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

What We Saw at the Save Our Schools Rally in Washington D.C.

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EDT

On July 30th, 2011, teachers, parents and advocates such as actor Matt Damon, author Jonathan Kozol, and historian Diane Ravitch gathered for the Save Our Schools Rally outside the White House.

The purpose of the event: "To put the public back in public schools."

Reason.tv was on hand to talk tenure, the role of money in education, and whether parents should have the right to choose where their kids go to school.

Approximately 6 minutes.

Produced, shot and edited by Jim Epstein. Hosted by Michelle Fields. Additional editing by Joshua Swain; production assistance from Kyle Blaine.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to our YouTube Channel to receive updates when new material goes live.

Fox News' Juan Williams on School Choice

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:05:00 EDT

At FreedomFest 2011, Reason's Matt Welch spoke with Fox News' Juan Williams about his passion for school choice reform, which Williams describes as the "civil rights issue of our time."

Williams is the author of the new book Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate, which recounts in part his controversial firing from National Public Radio. He's also the author of the critically acclaimed 1988 history of the civil rights movement, Eyes on the Prize.

Williams says he first came to the issue of education reform in the 1990s, when he was astonished by the level of dropout rates in inner-city schools, which disproportionately affects low-income and minority students. He credits George W. Bush for coining the phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations" to describe the educational status quo and remains surprised by the lack of widespread outrage from parents whose children are stuck in such failing schools. Still, he believes that the forces of school choice are making huge headway in breaking up a public school monopoly that fails to serve students and parents.

Shot by Jim Epstein and edited by Anthony L. Fisher. About 5 minutes long.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.

Austrian Economics and Pedagogy: A conversation with Universidad Francisco Marroquin professor Albert Loan

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EDT

What does Austrian economics have to do with teaching? What's the best way to teach students about dispersed knowledge? What can classical liberals learn from Maria Montessori?

We sat down with Universidad Francisco Marroquin professor Albert Loan to discuss UFM's ongoing experiments in pedagogy.

Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Approximately 6.5 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.

Universidad Francisco Marroquin (aka University of Free Marketeers)

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Guatemala's Universidad Francisco Marroquín, which economist Walter Williams described as an island of economic sanity in a sea of socialism, is a truly unique place.

Founded by "Muso" Manuel Ayau in 1971, the mission of Universidad Francisco Marroquín is to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons. In other words, the people at UFM want the people of Guatemala to be free. This is, of course, no small task in a country that has been plagued by political corruption and socialist policies for so long.

However, as UFM graduate Alfredo Guzmán told us, "sometimes thoughts become things." And Guzmán knows what he's talking about. In the late 90s, Guzmán and other UFM graduates successfully privatized Guatemala's state-run telecommunications monopoly and opened up the market to competition. How did that free market experiment work out? In 1995, there were only 300,000 phones in Guatemala; today, 13 million Guatemaltecos own more than 18 million phones.

Approximately 9 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine & Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and go to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

LA Rally: Don't Believe What Teachers Tell You

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Teachers unions say California must not roll back annual increases in public school spending. And they're not too careful about facts when they make that case.

Teachers frequently claim, for example, that California is in either 49th or 50th place among the 50 states in per-pupil spending. In fact, the Golden State is 31st in per-pupil spending.

Teachers also say the Golden State could solve its chronic budget shortfalls by raising tax rates on the rich. But California is already unusually dependent on taxes collected from high earners. This is why revenue collections can drop sharply during recession, while spending -- which has increased 37 percent since 2001 -- continues to grow at rates exceeding inflation and population growth.

Last Friday, May 13, teachers all over Los Angeles left school early to attend a Downtown rally. Reason TV tagged along to find out what other whoppers teachers are telling (outside the classroom, that is).

Approximately 4:16 minutes.

Filmed by Zach Weissmueller and Paul Detrick; Edited by Detrick.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Chapman's David Porter on Solving University Parking Gridlock

Wed, 04 May 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Dr. David Porter was one of the professors tasked with solving Chapman University’s parking gridlock. He told an audience at Reason Foundation's annual Reason Weekend what his solution was: Auction off the spaces.

Porter is a professor of economics and mathematics at Chapman University and the Donna and David Janes Endowed Chair in Experimental Economics.

He says that the parking problem is a lot more complicated than letting price solve supply and demand.

"Well, supply and demand [is] not something that is static here. It's throughout the day. So the prices have to change throughout the day," says Porter.

Topics include: Dutch auctions; busy parking time for students; and complaints from faculty.

Approximately 24:00 minutes-long.

Filmed by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick; Edited by Detrick.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

A Tipping Point for School Choice: Lisa Snell and Clare Mullin on the Voucher and Charter School Revolution

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EDT

"School choice is winning, in America, folks," says Reason Foundation's Director of Education Lisa Snell.

At Reason Foundation's annual Reason Weekend, Snell discussed the great progress that's been made in the school choice movement, with charter schools and voucher programs already making incredible improvements in the quality of American education. Clare Mullin, project manager for the Gleason Family Foundation, was also on the panel and talked about the spike in public interest in school choice and the great success of National School Choice Week.

About 24 minutes. Shot by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick; edited by Zach Weissmueller.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Nick Gillespie Joins Ann Coutler and Michael McDonald on Greg Gutfeld's Red Eye

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared Fox News' Red Eye to discuss various topics, including union activists advocating violence, accessing pornography in New York City libraries, Lindsey Lohan earning prison time and the beating of a transsexual woman at a Baltimore McDonald's. Airdate: March 26, 2011.

Approximately 40 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

We Don't Need No (Public) Education: Sheldon Richman on the Separation of School and State

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Who likes the sound of a school bell? Sheldon Richman certainly doesn't.

"Schools, by their structure, are preparing kids for some sort of authoritarian lifestyle," he says.

Richman is critical of the school choice movement, saying that even in charter schools, money is still being provided by the state.

He edits The Freeman and TheFreemanOnline.org, publications from the Foundation for Economic Education. Richman also is the author of Separating School and State and is a contributor to The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

Topics include: Unschooling; critiquing charter schools; for-profit private schools; and home schooling.

Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Hawk Jensen. Edited by Weissmueller, Jensen and Paul Detrick

Approximately 5:40 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

The Growing Libertarian Youth Movement

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Government continues to grow in size and scope, and yet there may be reason for liberty lovers to be optimistic about the future.

In 2007, college students formed the non-profit organization Students for Liberty to aid the growth of libertarian campus groups. Today, Students for Liberty has grown to include more than 400 pro-liberty campus groups and the organization was recently featured in an episode of Stossel on Fox Business Network.

On March 31, 2011, Students for Liberty hosted a Stossel viewing party at Reason's D.C. headquarters.

Co-founder and executive director Alexander McCobin and communications manager Blayne Bennett sat down with Reason.tv to talk about the organization's history, it's success and, why they're optimistic about the future of liberty.

Hosted by Nick Gillespie. Shot and edited by Joshua Swain.

Approximately 2 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Crazy U's Andrew Ferguson on How to Get Your Kid into College w/o Going Insane

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Andrew Ferguson is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and the author of, most recently, Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College.

Drawing rave reviews from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Crazy U is a very funny yet very serious look at the higher-education industry, especially the status anxiety college invokes in parents. Ferguson roams the countryside with his diffident son, touring various campuses and meeting characters such as a sharp-tongued counselor who charges $40,000 to shepherd high schoolers through an increasingly competitive and byzantine admissions process.

Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Ferguson and his son Gillam, who is now a sophomore at the University of Virginia (discussed as "Big State University" in the book). Shot by Jim Epstein and edited by Josh Swain.

Approximately 5 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to our YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Ferguson is also the author of Land of Lincoln and Fools' Names, Fools' Faces. For more on those books and the author, go here now.

In 2008, Gillespie interviewed Ferguson as part of an experimental interactive media studies class taught via videocam for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Watch the discussion with Ferguson, Gillespie, and the students of IMS 390B by going here. Among the topics covered: Land of Lincoln, Ferguson's dislike of Twitter, and his years as a speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush. About 50 minutes.

3/11/2011 Update: Ferguson's book is temporarily sold out at Amazon. To purchase at Barnes & Noble, go here.

To Surly, With Love: Are Teachers Overpaid?

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

Public school teachers are at the forefront of protests against state budget cuts and restrictions on collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio, and elsewhere.

Teachers have a lot to lose. According to Department of Education statistics, in 2007-2008 (the latest year available), full-time public school teachers across the country made an average of $53,230 in "total school-year and summer earned income." That compares favorably to the $39,690 that private school teachers pulled down.

And when it comes to retirement benefits, public school teachers do better than average too. According to EducationNext, government employer contribute the equivalent of 14.6 percent of salary to retirement benefits for public school teachers. That compares to 10.4 for private-sector professionals.

Those levels of compensation help explain why per-pupil school cost have risen substantially over the past 50 years. In 1960-61, public schools spent $2,769 per student, a figure that now totals over $10,000 in real, inflation-adjusted dollars. Among the things that threefold-plus increase in spending has purchased are more teachers per student. In 1960, the student-teacher ratio in public schools was 25.8; it's now at a historic low of 15.

Among the things all that money hasn't bought? Parental satisfaction, for one. Despite public teachers' much-higher salaries, parents with school-age children in public schools report substantially lower satisfaction rates than parents with children in private schools. In 2007, the percentage of parents with children in assigned public schools who were "very satisfied" with the institution was 52 percent. For parents whose children attended public schools of choice, that figure rose to 62 percent. Parents sending their children to private schools, whether religious or non-sectarian, were "very satisfied" 79 percent of the time.

It's little wonder that parents with little or no choice report the lowest-levels of satisfaction (about 90 percent of K-12 students attend public schools). Despite all the extra resources devoted to public school teachers and students, student achievement has been absolutely flat over the past 40 years. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is "the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas." When it comes to 17-year-old students (effectively, high-school seniors), nothing has changed since reporting began in the early 1970s. In 1971, 17-year-old students averaged 285 points (out of 500) in reading. In 2008, that had risen to 286. For math in 1973, the average score was 304 (out of 500). In 2008, it was 306.

Public school teachers make about $14,000 a year more in straight salary than private school teachers; when you add in benefits, the gap widens even more. They teach fewer students than ever before and taxpayers at all levels spend increasing amounts of money on education. Yet for all that, the best you can say is that we're spending more than three times as much money as we were 40 years ago for exactly the same outcomes.

The National Governers Association says that states are looking at $175 billion in shortfalls over the next two years. Local governments are in the red too. As legislators look for places to cut or reduce spending, there's no question that public school teachers have a lot to lose in terms of compensation.

And there's no question that, even if there were no budget emergencies, the nation's public school system is failing to return much of anything on an ever-growing pile of tax dollars.

"To Surly, With Love" was written and produced by Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg. For data sources, go to http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/03/to-surly-with-love-are-teacher

Scroll down for downloadable versions of all our videos and subscribe to our Youtube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

California's Parent Trigger Law: Compton Parents Take on the Public School System

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Last year, parents of students in failing California public schools were given a reason to be hopeful when Sacramento politicians passed something called the "parent trigger" law. The way the law works is that if 51% of parents at a failing school sign a petition, they can turn the school into a charter school, replace the staff or simply use the petition as a bargaining chip to initiate a conversation about change.

On December 7, 2010, with help from the non-profit group Parent Revolution, parents of children attending McKinley Elementary in Compton became the first group of parents to pull the parent trigger. Their dream was to transform the school into a Celerity charter school. Instead, the Compton parents were thrust into a prolonged fight with supporters of the status quo: the Compton Unified School District, the teachers' unions, Gov. Jerry Brown and Tom Torlakson, the newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction.

This is the story about a group of parents in Compton who are fighting to give their children a better education.

Approximately 8.5 minutes.

Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

What We Saw at the Students For Liberty Conference 2011

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason.tv attended the Students For Liberty International Conference 2011 at the George Washington University in Washington, February 18th to the 20th.

Students For Liberty is a nonprofit organization geared toward aiding libertarian student groups on campus and abroad. Formed in 2008, SFL has grown from thirty students to over 500 and begun to gain the media attention of Fox Business Network and Stossel. Reason.tv sat down with Co-founders Alexander McCobin and Sloane Frost, Executive Board Member Ankur Chawla, Communication Manager Blayne Bennett and SFL Student of the Year 2011 Michelle Fields to talk about the organization’s exceptional growth and if it is connected to a increased interest in libertarianism in the general public. Reason.tv also interviewed the students attending about why they are libertarian and what they hoped to take away from the conference.

Approximately 3 minutes long. Shot and edited by Josh Swain. Interviews by Swain with assistance from Reason Foundation research assistant Harris Kenny and Communication Specialist Katie Hooks.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Check out Reason.tv's interview with Michelle Fields produced Novermeber 29, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcDFHM76zKs

Budget Battle Showdowns

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:12:00 EST

Wisconsin. Ohio. Michigan. New Jersey. New York. Budget-battle showdowns are coming soon to a statehouse near you.

Thousands of angry school teachers, union members, and their sympathizers have descended on capitals to fight against reducing pay and benefits for public employees. The protesters are up against a new crop of governors who are hell-bent on spending cuts to deal with deficits that may rise to combined $125 billion in the next fiscal year.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is looking for public employees to pay $500 million towards benefits they’re currently receiving for free.

New Jersey's Chris Christie is proposing public employees pick up 30 percent of their health care premiums. Wisconsin's Scott Walker wants public employees to pay at least 13 percent of their health care premiums. And he wants state workers to start contributing to their retirements for the first time.

This newfound fiscal discipline comes after a virtually unchecked binge over the past 10 years during which state expenditures exploded by more than 80 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars, including big bumps in overall worker compensation.

The most controversial aspect of the budget battles deals with public-sector unions and collective bargaining. Wisconsin'sWalker and others argue that the current process is inherently stacked against taxpayers because the government isn’t spending its own money like companies in the private sector do. What’s more, taxpayers have no way of opting out of any agreement that’s reached. In the private sector, consumers can always take their business elsewhere. That’s the basic reason why progressives such as Franklin Roosevelt and labor legend George Meany were against unions for government workers.

In a world of super-tight budgets, it's a foregone conclusion that public-sector workers are going to have to give back compensation. Public school teachers make up the bulk of government employees in every state in the country and they already make 35 percent more in straight salary than their private-school counterparts. There's also a growing gap between what they get toward retirement and what private-sector professionals receive.

Teacher union leaders in Wisconsin and elsewhere now say that educators are willing to accept less compensation - just as long as nobody cuts the union out of the deal-making. Whatever the fate of public employee unions in this, the winter of our discontent, there's no question that teachers and other state workers are going to have to get used to making less.

That's not a total fix, much less a revolution, but it counts as real progress in a country where every state government has spent itself to the brink of bankruptcy.

"Budget Battle Showdowns" is a joint production of Heritage Foundation and Reason.tv.

Written and produced by Jim Epstein and Nick Gillespie, who also narrates. Footage and other assistance from Dan Hayes and Clay Broga of FreeThink Media.

Scroll down for downloadable HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Latinos and School Choice

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:08:00 EST

Julio Fuentes is the president of the Florida-based Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, which was founded in 2001 to promote school choice as a way to help Latino students get a better education.

Reason.tv sat down with Fuentes to talk about whether school choice is a popular issue in the Hispanic community.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1 minute. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here

Expanding Choice through Tax Credits

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:40:00 EST

Andrew Coulson, director of the Center for Education Freedom at the Cato Institute, believes giving businesses tax credits for sending kids to private school is the most effective way to expand school choice. The regulatory and legal obstacles to charters schools and vouchers, he argues, present too many hassles to work around.

Reason.tv sat down with Coulson at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C. to talk about the public education tax credits and more.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 6 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Special Interests Make Schools Worse

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:45:00 EST

Lindsey Burke is a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, who has written widely about the need to change the incentive structure in public education to better serve kids.

Reason.tv sat down with Burke at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C. to talk about the biggest obstacle to school choice.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1.30 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

What Teachers Need Most

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:15:00 EST

Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist has drawn national attention for her fight to make teachers better. She created a new statewide teacher evaluation system, she raised Rhode Island's standards for acceptance into teacher-preparation programs, and she fired all the teachers at at a failing high school near Providence when they resisted reform. These efforts landed her on Time's 100 most influential people list in 2010.

Reason.tv sat down with Gist at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C. to talk about what teachers are most lacking.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1.30 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Money Should Follow Kids

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

What's the best way to bypass the centralized bureaucracies that run America's school system? Reason Foundation Director of Education Lisa Snell is an advocate of simply attaching money to kids, so when a student leaves a failing school so does a portion of its funding.

Reason.tv sat down with Snell to talk about how this simple reform can transform public education.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 2 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

To read Lisa Snell's recent brief on how to fix city schools, go here.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

More Money Doesn't Make Better Schools

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:22:00 EST

Newark, New Jersey spends an astounding $23,141 per student. That money pays for a school system in which 40 percent of high school students pass a standard proficency test.

Why aren't Garden State taxpayers getting more for their money?

To find out, Reason.tv sat down with Derrell Bradford, the founder and CEO of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), which advocates for more school choice in New Jersey.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Teachers Unions and School Choice

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:55:00 EST

Steve Barr is the founder of Green Dot Public Schools, which operates 10 charter schools in Los Angeles and one school in New York City, which it opened in partnership with the United Federation of Teachers.

Green Dot's entire teaching staff is unionized, which makes it unusual among charter operators. It considers unions a "key constituent" in its mission to "drive change."

Reason.tv sat down with Barr to discuss if school choice is compatible with unions, and if Green Dot's teacher's contract allows it the flexibility to deploy staff resources in a way that best serves students.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1 minute. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's short documentary on school choice in New Orleans, go here.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

School Choice and the Middle Class

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST

Should parents who’ve already paid a premium to live in a good school district oppose school choice?

Reason.tv sat down with Matthew Ladner of the Goldwater Institute to talk about how choice affects middle-class kids. Ladner has written widely on education policy, and before coming to Goldwater he was the director of state projects at the Alliance for School Choice.

This interview, which was conducted at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1.30 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

The Future of School Choice

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

Teachers unions? Complacent parents? Bureaucracy? Dumb kids? Misinformation? The U.S. spends more on K-12 education than virtually any country in the world, yet our educational system yields mediocre results.

What is the biggest obstacle facing America’s serious school reform?

On January 20, 2011, Reason's Nick Gillespie and Lisa Snell led a discussion on the future of school choice at Reason's DC HQ. The participants included Virginia Walden Ford, a pioneer in the District of Columbia's school choice movement; Rebeca Huffman of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers; Patrick M. Byrne, the Ph.D. CEO of Overstock.com and chairman of The Foundation for Educational Choice; and Joe Trippi, the Democratic campaign strategist who brought the Internet to politics.

This event was held to kick off National School Choice Week, an initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform public education.

Don’t forget to watch Reason.tv's latest videos on school choice, including interviews with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Green Dot Public Schools founder Steve Barr, and a host of education reformers who are radically transforming public education.

Approximately 60 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein, Meredith Bragg and Joshua Swain, and edited by Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Jay Greene on Making Schools Better

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

Jay Greene is the author of numerous studies demonstrating that more choice in education leads to better outcomes. A professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas and a fellow at the George W. Bush institute , Greene is also the author of Education Myths: What Special-Interest Groups Want You to Believe About our Schools—and Why It Isn’t So.

Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Greene at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., to talk about why competition makes schools better.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 5 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Fear of the Unknown & School Choice

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST

Virginia’s Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson believes more school choice leads to better outcomes for black students.

Robinson is the former president of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and was a senior fellow at the Institute for the Transformation of Learning. In 2008, he co-authored The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter Schools, which showed that charter schools are helping narrow the black-white achievement gap.

Reason.tv sat down with Robinson at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., to discuss the biggest obstacle to creating more options for students and parents.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1 minute. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

For education policy research from Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website, go here.

Put the Money in the Backpack

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:45:00 EST

Lisa Graham Keegan is founder and president of the Education Breakthrough Network, which provides support and information to people working to expand school options for kids.

From 1995 to 2001, Keegan was Arizona's top education official; prior to that, she served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995.

Reason.tv sat down with Keegan at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., to talk about why it's so important to change the way that schools receive public funding.

Joel Klein on School Choice

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

As chancellor of New York City's Department of Education from 2002-2010, Joel Klein oversaw dramatic changes to the largest school system in the country. He worked hard to increase choice and accountability by increasing the autonomy and accountability of principals and championing charter schools. He also fought (with mixed success) to make it easier to hire and fire teachers and to eliminate onerous work rules.

Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Klein at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., to talk about school choice and the obstacles to reform.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, an initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform public education.

Approximately 3.35 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Joshua Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Jeb Bush on Disrupting the Education Monopoly

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:44:00 EST

As governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, Jeb Bush championed school choice. His first year in office he created a program that offered vouchers to students in failing schools. The program successfully boosted student achievement until it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2006. Two other Bush-supported programs -- one that offers tax credits to business that help send low-income kids to private schools and another that gives vouchers to disabled students -– survived the high-court ruling. Bush also expanded the Florida Virtual School, a national model for online public education.

Since leaving office, Bush has promoted his reform agenda in other states. He founded the Foundation for Excellence in Education and serves as co-chair of the Digital Learning Council.

Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Bush at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., to talk about how information technology can help break the education monopoly.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, an initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform public education.

Approximately 6.30 minutes. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

The Libertarian Youth Movement: Q&A with Michelle Fields of Students for Liberty

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EST

Do college students dig libertarianism? Which libertarian issues play well on campus?

Michelle Fields is the campus coordinator for the Los Angeles chapter of Students for Liberty. She sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh at Libertopia to discuss the state of libertarianism on college campuses.

Approximately 3 minutes. Camera by Zach Weissmueller and Adam Hawk Jensen. Edited by Weissmueller.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Peter Thiel on Facebook, Technology, and the Higher Education Bubble

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:00:00 EST

Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal, was an early investor in Facebook, and currently serves as president of the global macro hedge fund Clarium Capital. He recently announced the creation of the Thiel Fellowship, which will award $100,000 each to 20 people under 20 years old to "stop out" of college and create their own business ventures.

During the recent Libertopia festival in Hollywood, California, Thiel sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about the new film The Social Network, technology, exit rights, and the higher education bubble.

Approximately 9 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Camera by Adam Jensen, Zach Weissmueller.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

What You Can't Say on Campus: Greg Lukianoff on Free Expression in Higher Education

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EDT

If you think that, like the Macarena, campus speech codes were mocked into obscurity during the 1990s, think again. Approximately 71 percent of American campuses still impose highly restrictive "red light speech codes" on college students, notes Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

Recently Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with Lukianoff to discuss the sorry state of free expression in higher education, why you can't call Harvard men sissies, and how a student got expelled for criticizing a university president on Facebook.

Approximately 8.5 minutes.

Shot by Paul Detrick and Hawk Jensen. Edited by Austin Bragg.

Scroll down for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Liberty for Africa: Q&A with Adedayo Thomas

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Spreading a message of liberty and free markets across Africa, where corruption and nepotism are depressingly common, is a daunting task - but not for Adedayo Thomas. Thomas, a Nigerian political activist and publisher of AfricaLiberty.org, has embarked on a cross-continent speaking tour to introduce to some of the most remotest areas of Africa to the ideas of libertarianism.

Recently Reason.tv's Micheal Moynihan sat down with Thomas to discuss how his ideology changed over time, how he's using African concepts to communicate the ideas of classical liberalism, and to discuss his favorite French philosopher, Frederic Bastiat.

Approximately five minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes. Edited by Joshua Swain.

Scroll down for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Author Paul Cantor on The Economics of Literature

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:15:00 EDT

Paul Cantor, professor of English at the University of Virginia, is an anomaly in world of literary criticism and the study of popular culture. While many academics employ an economic approach to the study of literature, they are invariably informed by Marxist critiques. Cantor, who attended the New York lectures of Ludwig von Mises as a teenager, argues that there is much to be learned from a pro-capitalist reading of literature. In August, Cantor sat down with Reason senior editor Michael C. Moynihan to discuss "Literature and the Economics of Liberty," a new book of essays he edited with Stephen Cox, that looks at the work of Walt Whitman, Willa Cather, H.G. Wells, and others through the prism of Austrian economics.

Approximately 6:45 minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes. Edited by Josh Swain.

Scroll down for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

3 Reasons Obama's Education Vision Deserves an F

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EDT

President Barack Obama is making his bid to be "the education president." At the start of NBC's recent Education Nation summit in New York, Obama appeared on the Today Show and touted what he claimed were a wide-ranging set of reforms to improve America's K-12 schools.

Yet Obama's education vision deserves an F for at least three reasons:

1. Money Talks. Obama says that the educational system needs new ideas and more money. Despite a doubling in inflation-adjusted per-pupil spending since the early 1970s, student achievement is flat at best. But Obama is placing most of his bets on the money part. While he brags constantly about his Race to the Top initiative, in which states competed for $4 billion to fund innovative programs, he's spent more than $80 billion in no-strings-attached stimulus funds to maintain the educational status quo.

2. Choice Cuts. Candidate Obama said that he'd try any reform idea regardless of ideology. Yet one of his first education-related moves after taking office was to aid his Senate mentor, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), in killing a successful and popular D.C. voucher program that let low-income residents exercise the same choice Obama did in sending his daughters to private school.

3. The Unions Forever. The two largest teachers unions, The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, overwhelmingly supported Obama with their votes and their contributions. Some 95 percent of the groups' campaign contributions go to Democratic candidates and the NEA, spends more money on elections that Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Walmart, and the AFL-CIO combined. No wonder Obama's big talking point is that he wants to add 10,000 more teachers to public payrolls despite the fact that there are already more teachers per student than ever.

Reforming education may not be politically easy, but the solution is pretty simple: Give parents and students more ability to choose - and exit - schools. This works for every other sort of business and it works for higher education, too. There's no reason to think it wouldn't work for K-12 education.

And sadly, there's absolutely no reason to think that Obama will embrace that sort of change.

Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, who also hosts. Approximately 2.30 minutes. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel for automatic notification when new videos go live.

For more "3 Reasons" videos, go here.

NBC's Education Nation Summit: Joe Trippi, Michelle Rhee, & More

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT

Now that the final bell has rung on NBC’s week-long Education Nation conference, we can ask the extra credit question: When did school choice go mainstream?

The "summit," held at NBC's New York studios at Rockefeller Center, almost felt like a publicity junket for Waiting for Superman, a highly praised new documentary advocating for charter schools. A national TV audience watched as D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee chewed out teachers union honcho Randi Weingarten for spending $1 million in campaign funds to halt Rhee's reform agenda. Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski took a shot at Weingarten for resisting merit pay for teachers. And what to make of former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi working to promote National School Choice Week, slated for January 2011?

Will Democrats turn their newfound zeal for school choice into policies that actually banish unions from the classroom and empower parents and students? Reason.tv’s Michael Moynihan went to Education Nation to find out.

For more on Michelle Rhee and Washington, D.C.'s now aborted school reforms, read Katherine Mangu-Ward's feature story from Reason's May 2010 issue .

Produced by Jim Epstein and Michael Moynihan, with help from Joshua Swain. Approximately 4.15 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. And subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes online.

The New Orleans School Voucher Program

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Before Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, Orleans Parish public schools were failing miserably. After the storm shut down the public school system completely, there was little reason to be optimistic.

But then something amazing happened.

The state of Louisiana took control over most of the schools in the district and has been chartering those schools ever since. This fall, more than 70 percent of the students in New Orleans will attend charter schools. (Check out reason.tv's Katrina’s Silver Lining to learn more about the New Orleans charter school revolution.)

And then in 2008, Louisiana enacted the Student Scholarship for Educational Excellence Program, a pilot voucher program designed to allow students in failing schools to attend private schools in the area.

The result: more competition and more choices for parents.

This spring, Reason.tv went to New Orleans and spoke with Shree Medlock of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and folks at the Conquering Word Christian Academy to learn more about the city’s new voucher program.

Approximately 6.20 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine; shot by Alex Manning and Dan Hayes; edited by Alex Manning.

Scroll down for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Katherine Mangu-Ward Discusses For-Profit Schools and Debt-Burdened Students at the New America Foundation

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Magazine Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward joins a panel at the New America Foundation to discuss for-profit schools and new rules about who should be eligible for federal student aid on July 30, 2010. Approximately 35.48 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Director of School Choice Documentary "The Lottery" - Madeline Sackler

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Should the future of lower-income children be determined by their ZIP codes? By public school bureaucrats?

Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie sat down with Madeline Sackler, director of the critically acclaimed documentary, The Lottery, which follows four students in New York vying for a coveted slot at Harlem Success Academy. Entry to the school is by drawing and the odds are long: Only one in seven applicants gets in. The reason so many people want to attend? The charter school boasts having 95 percent of students at grade level, compared to 56 percent at other city public schools

Sackler's film does more than brilliantly dramatize the heartbreaking results of each year's application lottery. It showcases how school choice can radically improve education for the poorest of students. "I'd been hearing that problems in public education where poverty based or culture based or because certain parents didn't value education, and yet, what I saw was totally contradictory to that," explains Sackler.

Approximately 8.30 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and Jack Gillespie. Edited by Dan Hayes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Boing Boing Founder Mark Frauenfelder on DIY, Mistakes, and Unschooling

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:30:00 EDT

Mark Frauenfelder, is editor-in-chief of MAKE magazine, founder of the collaborative weblog Boing Boing, and author of the book Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World. He sat down with Reason.tv's Ted Balaker to discuss cigar box guitars, the value of mistakes, and what the Do-It-Yourself movement can teach us about education.

Approximately 9 minutes. Shot by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick. Edited by Austin Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Education Under Obama: A conversation with former assistant secretary of education Bill Evers

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Williamson M. Evers was the US assistant secretary of education for policy from 2007-2009. Today, Evers is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and serves on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Academic Content Standards Commission.

Reason.tv's Paul Feine recently sat down with Evers to get his assessment of US education policy under Obama thus far.

Approximately 6 minutes. Shot by Alex Manning; edited by Paul Detrick and Sam Corcos.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek on the New Orleans School Choice Revolution

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Paul Pastorek has served as the Louisiana State Superintendent of Education since his appointment in 2007, less than two years after Katrina ravaged the region. The storm appeared to be the final blow to an already failing public school system. But then something amazing happened. In the wake of Katrina, reformers like Paul Pastorek decided to seize the opportunity to start fresh with a system based on choice.

Today, New Orleans has the most market-based school system in the U.S. More than 60% of New Orleans public school students currently attend charter schools, and a new voucher program allows children to attend private schools in and around the city. It's too early to tell if the New Orleans experiment in school choice will succeed over the long term, but the combination of autonomy and accountability has produced impressive results thus far.

Reason.tv's Paul Feine sat down with Paul Pastorek to learn more about the New Orleans school choice revolution during Reason Weekend, an annual conference held by Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason.tv. This year's event took place in New Orleans from April 15-18.

Approximately 8.5 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine; shot by Alex Manning and Dan Hayes; edited by Paul Detrick.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Katrina's Silver Lining: The School Choice Revolution in New Orleans

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Before hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in 2005, New Orleans had one of the worst performing public school districts in the nation. Katrina forced nearly a million people to leave their homes and caused almost $100 billion in damages. To an already failing public school system, the storm seemed to provide the final deathblow. But then something amazing happened. In the wake of Katrina, education reformers decided to seize the opportunity and start fresh with a system based on choice.

Today, New Orleans has the most market-based school system in the US. 60% of New Orleans students currently attend charter schools, test scores are up, and talented and passionate educators from around the country are flocking to New Orleans to be a part of the education revolution. It's too early to tell if the New Orleans experiment in school choice will succeed over the long term, but for the first time in decades people are optimistic about the future of New Orleans schools.

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine; hosted by Nick Gillespie; shot by Alex Manning and Dan Hayes; edited by Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Reason Weekend 2010: Talking School Choice with reformers Lisa Snell, Leslie Jacobs & Arwynn Mattix

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:30:00 EDT

Reason Foundation's Director of Education Lisa Snell hosts a panel with Leslie Jacobs, founder of education reform nonprofit Educate Now! As a former member of the New Orleans School Board, Jacobs was a driving force behind the charter school movement that rejuvenated the New Orleans public school system after Hurricane Katrina.

Also on the panel is Arwynn Mattix from the BASIS Education Group, which runs charter schools in Arizona that have attracted praise from figures such as Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton.

Topics of discussion include the success that the school choice movement has achieved, challenges it still faces, lessons learned, and plans for the future.

Approximately 40 minutes.

This discussion was part of Reason Weekend, an annual conference held by Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason.tv. This year's event took place in New Orleans from April 15-18 in New Orleans.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Mr. Carey Goes to Cleveland: Drew Carey and Nick Gillespie talk to the Cleveland City Council about how to save Cleveland

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:00:00 EDT

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey, a Reason.tv original documentary series that proposes viable solutions to some of Cleveland's biggest problems, premiered in March 2010. The release made the front page (twice) of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and ruffled the feathers of at least one local writer.

The film also caught the attention of the Cleveland City Council, who invited Drew and Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie to Cleveland to discuss the ideas raised in the documentary.

This short video is a collection of highlights from Drew and Nick's 2.5 hour conversation with the Cleveland City Council on May 27.

Read a transcript of "The Confrontation" from the October 2010 issue of Reason.

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced, shot and edited by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Read Nick Gillespie's "How to Save Cleveland" and "Ideas for Saving Cleveland" in the June 2010 issue of Reason magazine.

A Teachers' Strike in Paradise

Thu, 27 May 2010 07:00:00 EDT

South Orange County is a suburban paradise is southern California. The climate is unbeatable, the surfing is great and the public schools are performing well. But not everything is perfect in the Capistrano Unified School District.

In April 2010, 2,200 teachers went on strike for three days after the school board imposed a 10 percent pay cut. The children who attended school during the strike had to walk past their teachers who, instead of preparing for class, were marching in front of the school with picket signs reading "It's not about the money" and "We'd rather be teaching."

Some parents honked in support of the union as they drove by. Other parents were frustrated by union members who were unwilling to work out a compromise with a district that is facing a $34 million budget deficit. Lots of parents talked about using the strike as "a teaching moment."

Reason.tv's Paul Feine talked to the school board president, the president of the union, teachers and parents to learn more.

Approximately 8.5 minutes. Produced and hosted by Paul Feine. Shot by Alex Manning and Paul Feine. Edited by Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

"The Cartel" Director Bob Bowdon on Education Reform

Tue, 25 May 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Bob Bowdon's new film The Cartel amply documents that waste and fraud in public education. Now playing in select cities, the documentary provokes outrage and action to fix a system that fails precisely the low-income students who most need the benefits of a strong education.

Go here for info and background on The Cartel and Bowdon, who also hosts the PBS show Two-Way Street and appears in videos for The Onion.

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie talked with Bowdon recently in Washington, D.C. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg, who also edited the piece. Approximately 7 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Tony Williams: A Pro-School Choice, Pro-Business Democrat...

Mon, 17 May 2010 07:00:00 EDT

"You either pay the $16,500 now for our children's public education or you pay the $35,000 or $40,000 later for public assistance, sitting on grandma's couch or in prison," says Anthony H. Williams.

Williams is a long-time Philadelphia-area state senator who is running for the Democratic Party nomination in the Keystone State. Williams is also an ardent supporter of school choice and pro-business in a way that few Democrats (or even Republicans, for that matter) seem to be these days.

A vocal supporter of public funding for the arts, Williams is no doctrinaire libertarian, but he remains an all-too-rare figure in contemporary politics: an individual not completely defined by his party affiliation.

Approximately 10 minutes long. Interview by Nick Gillespie; camera and editing by Dan Hayes. Go to Reason.tv's YouTube channel for embed code.

Fix The Schools: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Episode 2

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT

Cleveland’s public schools are failing to prepare students for their futures and as a result, all parents who can afford to have been fleeing to the suburbs for decades. Yet some urban schools, like Think College Now in Oakland, California are finding out that a combination of administrative autonomy and accountability can lead to amazing results. Within Cleveland's own boundaries, charter schools are booming and delivering quality education at a fraction of the cost of traditional public schools. Does Cleveland have what it takes to fundamentally reform its K-12 education system and become a leader in 21st-century education?

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey is written and produced by Paul Feine; camera and editing by Roger Richards and Alex Manning; narrated by Nick Gillespie; music by the Cleveland band Cats on Holiday. This is the second of six episodes that will air March 15-19, 2010.

Approximately 10 minutes long. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions of this video.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notification when new videos go live.

Reason Foundation's Adrian Moore on Fox Business Discussing California Education Funding

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:51:00 EST

On March 8, 2010, Adrian Moore, vice president of research at Reason Foundation, appeared on Fox Business with Stuart Varney to comment on California's education funding.

Approximately 5 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through 19 to watch the original documentary series Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey.

Obama's Doublethink Doubletalk (State of the Union Remix)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST

George Orwell defined doublethink as "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

When it comes to war, spending, and more, President Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address showed that doublethink is alive and well in Washington, D.C.

Approximately two minutes. Written and produced by Paul Feine.

For downloadable versions of all videos, go to Reason.tv.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notifications when new videos go online.

Economist Richard Vedder on Why College Costs Too Much

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EDT

In Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs So Much, Ohio University economist Richard Vedder lays out in plain language why, well, college costs so much.

Vedder, also a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, sat down at FreedomFest in mid-July with Reason magazine Editor in Chief to talk about college costs and more.

Approximately nine minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable, hi-res, and iPod-friendly versions. And embed code too.

The Case Against College Entitlements

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT

President Barack Obama has declared that his administration aims to make college affordable to everyone by greatly expanding government aid to middle class families. The Washington Post says that Obama's higher education proposals, which include creating a brand new Pell Grant entitlement, "could transform the financial aid landscape for millions of students while expanding federal authority to a degree that even Democrats concede is controversial."

But what if President Obama has it backwards? What if America is sending too many people to college?

A recent study found that "Nationally, four-year colleges graduated an average of just 53% of entering students within six years." If 40 percent of students who enter college drop out before graduation and over 50 percent of students take six years to graduate, perhaps Obama is focusing on the wrong issue.

Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan sat down with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and the American Enterprise Institute's Charles Murray, author of the recent book Real Education, to analyze how Obama's higher-education plans will impact the economic and cultural future of the United States.

Scroll down for embed code, an audio podcast, and iPod and HD versions.

For a YouTube version of this video, go here.

"The Case Against College Entitlements" was produced by Michael C. Moynihan and Meredith Bragg. Approximately 5 minutes long.

What We Saw at The DC School Voucher Rally

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT

On May 6, 2009, concerned parents, students, and others gathered in Washington, D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. They came to voice support for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a school-voucher program authorized by Congress in 2004 (as the seat of the federal government, the District is overseen by Congress). The program gives 1,700 students up to $7,500 to attend whatever school their parents choose.

Yet working with congressional Democrats and despite President Barack Obama's pledge to put politics and ideology aside in education, the Obama administration effectively killed the program through a backdoor legislative move. "[Education] Secretary [Arne] Duncan will use only one test in what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars," says the president. "It's not whether it's liberal or conservative, but whether it works."

Shortly after last week's rally, President Obama said that he would allow students currently enrolled in the program to finish up through high school, but that no new students would be allowed to enter the program. Thus, a president who exercises school choice himself, has consigned thousands of low-income students to attend massively underperforming D.C. public schools.

For more on the voucher program, watch "President Barack Obama & the DC School Voucher Program."

Having trouble embedding the video? Watch the YouTube version here.

Barack Obama & the DC School Voucher Program

Mon, 04 May 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Mercedes Campbell is one of the 1,700 students in the Washington, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a school-voucher program authorized by Congress in 2004. The program gives students up to $7,500 to attend whatever school their parents choose. For kids like Mercedes, who now attends Georgetown Visitation Prep, the DC voucher program is a way out of one of the worst school districts in the country.

"It's different, now that I go to Visitation," says Mercedes. "I approach things differently. It's like a whole new world, basically."

The program is wildly popular with parents and children—there are four applicants for every available slot—and a recent Department of Education study found that participants do significantly better than their public school peers. Indeed, after three years in private schools, students who entered the program at its inception were 19 months ahead in reading of applicants unlucky enough to still be trapped in D.C.'s public schools.

Yet working with congressional Democrats and despite his pledge to put politics and ideology aside in education, the Obama administration has effectively killed the program through a backdoor legislative move. "[Education] Secretary [Arne] Duncan will use only one test in what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars," says the president. "It's not whether it's liberal or conservative, but whether it works."

That sort of doublespeak has left many Obama supporters not just puzzled but outraged. Certainly, Mercedes is. "Out of everything else they can shut down or everything else they can advocate for, they want to take this one thing away?" Adds her mother, Ingrid, "We voted for you, we walked, we went to the parade, we stood freezing. Why?...Can you get this tape over to Obama and have him answer our questions? Why, sir, why?"

That's the question that will be asked on Wednesday, May 6, from 1P.M. to 2P.M., at a D.C. rally to reauthorize the voucher program. For more details, go here.

"Barack Obama and the DC School Voucher Program" is approximately 5.30 minutes long and was produced by Dan Hayes and Nick Gillespie.

For a YouTube version, go here.

Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch on DC Opportunity Scholars

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch on DC Opportunity Scholarships and the D.C. voucher fight.

Air Date: 04/14/2009

About 4 minutes.

Scroll down for iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

John Stossel: The Reason.tv Interview

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

Double Update: Set your Tivos to stun! John Stossel's 20/20 special, Bullshit in America, will air on Friday, ~~March 6~~ March 13 (the date is tentative; please consult your local listings). Based on six segments from Reason.tv and featuring Drew Carey, Stossel will take a long (and libertarian) look at immigration reform, medical marijuana, eminent domain abuse, and much more.

John Stossel is the best-known libertarian in the news media. As the co-anchor of the long-running and immensely popular ABC News program 20/20, auteur of a continuing series of specials on topics ranging from corporate welfare to educational waste to laws criminalizing consensual adult behavior, and author of best-selling books such as Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, Stossel brings a consistent message of liberty to millions of viewers on a weekly basis.

It wasn’t always this way. Born in 1947, Stossel started out as a standard-issue consumer reporter, working in Oregon and New York before joining the staff of Good Morning America and, later, 20/20. He did scare stories about everything from pharmaceutical rip-offs to exploding coffee pots. Then, in the 1980s, he encountered reason, which radically changed his thinking about the benefits of laissez faire in economics and personal lifestyles.

"It was a revelation," he writes in his 2004 memoir, Give Me a Break. "Here were writers who analyzed the benefits of free markets that I witnessed as a reporter. They called themselves libertarians, and their slogan was ‘Free Minds and Free Markets.’ I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but what they wrote sure made sense."

Reason.tv caught up with Stossel in January in Los Angeles, where the newsman was filming a special episode of 20/20 based on six Reason.tv documentaries featuring Drew Carey. Among the topics: the desirability of open borders, the need to reform the nation’s drug laws, and the case against universal preschool. Ted Balaker, a Reason.tv producer, talked with Stossel about bailout mania, his hopes for the Obama years, and his attempt to educate a generation of school kids with a video series called Stossel in the Classroom.

For an edited transcript of this interview, go here.

For an audio podcast, go here.

Universal Preschool

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:20:00 EDT

With support from major foundations and political heavy hitters like Barack Obama, universal preschool is the next big thing in education reform. Indeed, it's second only to universal health care on the liberal wish list. The goal is to offer publicly funded preschool—complete with credentialed teachers and and a standardized curriculum—to all four-year olds during the school year.

Advocates, including Yale University's Edward Zigler, argue that public investments in early education will pay dividends over the long term. Critics point out that the evidence from states that have universal preschool programs shows that whatever benefits kids receive from those programs fade out by the fourth grade.

Since preschool attendance rates in states that have universal preschool are no higher than the national average, universal preschool wouldn’t even increase preschool attendance. It would, however, cost a lot of money, put lots of privately owned preschools out of business, and dramatically decrease early education options for parents.

So what do you think? Is expanding our failing K-12 system the best way to fix it?

This 10-minute documentary is hosted by reason's Nick Gillespie. It is produced by Paul Feine and Roger M. Richards.

Mark Bauerlein: Why Young Americans Are the Dumbest Generation

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT

In his provocative new book The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein argues that "the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future" by turning out hyper-networked kids who can track each other's every move with ease but are largely ignorant of history, economics, culture, and other subjects he believes are prerequisites for meaningful civic participation.

Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University who has written for reason, notes that a 2003 Foundation for Individual Rights survey found that only one out of 50 college students could name the first right mentioned in the First Amendment. Between 1982 and 2002, the National Endowment for the Arts estimates that the share of 18-to-24-year-olds who reported reading a single poem, play, novel, or short story outside of school or work dropped from 60 percent to 43 percent. "I tell students in class all the time, 'You guys are lazy and ignorant,'" says Bauerlein. "Don't tell me how busy you are. You watch two hours and 41 minutes of TV a day."

Bauerlein is a self-described "educational conservative," but his politics do not fit easily into existing categories. "I believe in a core knowledge, a core tradition, that everyone should learn," he explains. "Socially, I'm pretty liberal and libertarian; I think the drug war is one of the most absurd and costly government programs ever created."

Bauerlein talked with reason.tv's Nick Gillespie in June. Watch the approximately eight-minute interview above.

And as a special bonus, click below to see Bauerlein’s answers to questions from the home version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Click on the image below to see just how well (or poorly) he does.

Grover Norquist: Leave Us Alone Already!

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Americans for Tax Reform honcho Grover Norquist recently sat down with reason.tv's Nick Gillespie for a 45-minute conversation about Norquist's new book Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands of Our Guns, Our Money, Our Lives.

From the book's description at Amazon:

The modern Republican party is a coalition of groups and tendencies created during the political life of Ronald Reagan, based on principle rather than region and history. The new political movement that now controls much of the Republican party is one of Americans who simply wish to be left alone by the government. They are not asking the government for others' money, time, or attention. Rather, they want to be free to own a gun, homeschool their children, pray, invest their money, and control their own destiny.
They are the Leave Us Alone coalition, at the heart of the center-right, and Grover Norquist argues that it will grow in power and size during the next generation. Directly opposed to this coalition is the descriptively titled Takings Coalition, which is at the heart of the tax-and-spend left, and they will battle for control of America's future over the next fifty years. It is increasingly important to better understand these coalitions than it is the Republican or Democratic parties themselves.
In a compelling and powerful narrative, Norquist describes the two competing coalitions in American politics, how they are organized, what makes them stronger or weaker. What each can achieve and what they cannot do. And how you may fit into the contest as well as gain a deeper understanding of American politics—where it's been, where it is and particularly where it will go—through a series of eye-opening economic, demographic, and political trends that will shape these coalitions in the years to come.

In this wide-ranging, in-depth discussion, Norquist talks about splits among libertarians and conservatives, the many failures of the Bush administration and the GOP Congress, his trouble with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the urgent need for reform in Social Security, health care, and education, and much, much more.

Unlocked

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:16:00 EST

Vikki Reyes has had it with Locke High, the school her daughters attend in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. She walked in on class one day and recalls “the place was just like a zoo!” Students had taken control, while the teacher sat quietly with a book.

Frank Wells has also had it with Locke High. When he became principal he says gangs ruled the campus. He tried to turn things around but ran into a “brick wall” of resistance from the school district and teachers union.

Locke seemed destined to languish in high crime and low test scores until Wells, Reyes, and many reform-minded teachers joined with a maverick named Steve Barr in an attempt to break free from the status quo. Their battle is just one example of the charter school education revolt that’s erupting across the nation.

Gun/Hug-Free Zones

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:59:00 EST

Some University of Colorado students are protesting the school's gun ban by strapping on empty holsters. Turns out other schools, like Colorado State, allow students to pack heat.

(Thanks to protester Jim Manley for the tip; and to "Bear Arms" Orendy for the pic and the spooky way he anticipated this post)

Elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain state ...

If you're a student at Evergreen Middle School who's in a huggy mood--have at it. Just make it quick. "Prolonged" hugs are forbidden.

(Find this clip to the right of ABC 7's video screen)

Flunked Flick

ben.dachis@reason.org (Ben Dachis) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:47:00 EDT

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation will soon release this film on schools in America. Clearly, American schools need a lot of work and some innovative solutions could go a long way. The key to this innovation is variety in schooling through charter schools, school choice, vouchers, etc. (Pretty much anything other than the current state monopoly in public schools).

Check out Reason's education resources here and here.

Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity - The Party!

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:06:00 EDT

From the archives: Check out the LA Press Club/Reason shindig for John Stossel's book, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.