John King: Getting Back to School Safely and Better

Education is among the highest stated priorities right out of the gates for the Biden Administration. Besides the obvious – getting kids and teachers back to school safely and quickly – major challenges remain around what some call “unfinished learning” and others call “learning loss” that have been revealed and exacerbated by the pandemic – as well as enduring and systemic questions of how to address gaps in equity, race, funding, and opportunity… as well as the best ways to integrate lessons from the Science of Learning and Development in reimagining education in America.

With each issue so urgent and so connected, how should the Department of Education prioritize them? Further, given our prized system of local school control, what exactly can a federal Department of Education do?

To find out, we spoke with Dr. John King, our nation’s 10th Secretary of Education who served under President Obama. King has dedicated his career to education. His parents were New York City public school teachers. He taught high school social studies in Puerto Rico and Boston. He served as a middle school principal. Today King is president and CEO of The Education Trust, a nonprofit organization that seeks to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps, from preschool through college.

For more information, go to www.turnaroundusa.org/podcast.