Freedom to Learn
On this season of Freedom to Learn, we're exploring the implementation of education policies that put power back where it belongs, closest to students. Each episode will reveal how policymakers and advocates are turning historic legislative victories into education freedom reality for millions of parents and students. Over the last two years, our Freedom to Learn guests have made the case for creating a new Education Freedom Tax Credit, expanding state education savings account programs, returning education to states, communities, and families, and ending the era of union dominance. Join us this season as we explore what's possible when education is student-centered and free from bureaucratic control. Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute.
Episodes
84 episodes
Patrick Graff on the Education Freedom Tax Credit’s 52 Million Eligible Students, 121 Million Potential Donors, & 31 Participating States
The new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit could reshape the K-12 education landscape faster than most people realize. American Federation for Children senior fellow Patrick Graff’s new research reveals who can fund and who can receive tax cr...
Mandy Drogin on Texas Education Freedom Accounts, Great Books, & the Classroom Comeback
Texas families are demanding more education options and expecting more of the education system. Ginny Gentles talks with Mandy Drogin, host of the Parent Empowerment podcast, about the 120,000 students benefiting from Texas’s education...
Daniel Buck on Fixing Classroom Chaos, Balancing Teacher Prep Programs, & Addressing the Teacher-Parent Divide
This week on Freedom to Learn, DFI Guest Host Angela Morabito is joined by Daniel Buck, American Enterprise Institute Research Fellow and Director of the Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN). Daniel breaks down the student behavior cris...
Under Secretary Nicholas Kent on Alternative Pathways, Reforming Accreditation, & Transparency in Higher Education
We’re back with another episode of Freedom to Learn, with DFI’s Angela Morabito filling in for Host Ginny Gentles. This week, U.S. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent joins the podcast to give an inside look on how the The Department of ...
RE-RELEASE: Gov. Jeb Bush on School Choice Victories, Union Lawsuits, & Why Reform is Never Complete
This week on Freedom to Learn, we’re re-releasing our conversation with Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on the Florida teachers union's lawsuit targeting the state's education freedom programs and why he believes it is destined to fail. Govern...
RE-RELEASE: Bill Jacobson on Intersectionality, Anti-American Ideology, & How to Stop It
Intersectionality has quietly become the unseen driver behind today’s divisive education policies, anti-American sentiments, and campus radicalization. This week on Freedom to Learn, we are re-releasing our episode featuring William A. Jacobson...
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RE-RELEASE: DFI’s Paul Zimmerman on Title IX, the RESPECT Title IX Act, & the Need for Congressional Action
On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for women and girls, ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox that schools may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on bio...
Peter Murphy & Jim Blew on Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Implementation, Treasury Guidance, & Governor Opt-Ins
A new federal tax credit could dramatically expand educational opportunities for millions of students next year. Jim Blew of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coalition and Peter Murphy of the Invest in Education Coalition join the podcast to ...
Ron Matus on Florida’s School Choice Families, Educators, & à la Carte Options
Over a million Florida K-12 students attend a school of choice through magnet programs, open enrollment, career and technical academies, and charter and lab schools. Over 500,000 Florida students participate in the state’s education savings acc...
Amber Northern on Teachers Unions’ Strength, Perception, & Politics
Teacher unions have long dominated education politics, but their influence is waning. Amber Northern of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute joins Freedom to Learn to discuss a new report ranking teacher union strength across all 50 states....
Governor Jeb Bush on the School Choice Victories, Union Lawsuits, & Why Reform is Never Complete
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush joins Freedom to Learn to discuss the Florida teachers union's latest lawsuit targeting the state's education freedom programs and why he believes it is destined to fail. Governor Bush reflects on the bold refor...
Assistant Secretary Kirsten Baesler on Returning Education to the States with Waivers, Ed-Flex Authority, & Funding
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler joins the podcast to discuss what “returning education to the states” looks like in practice. With Iowa and Louisiana receiving waivers to consolidate stat...
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Danyela Souza Egorov on New York City’s Soaring Spending, Plummeting Enrollment, & Chronic Absenteeism
New York City spends $42,000 per pupil, but student outcomes are mediocre and families are fleeing the system. Danyela Souza Egorov joins Freedom to Learn to discuss the city’s shrinking enrollment, increasingly empty school buildings,...
Bill Jacobson on Intersectionality, Anti-American Ideology, & How to Stop It
Intersectionality has quietly become the unseen driver behind today’s divisive education policies, anti-American sentiments, and campus radicalization. William A. Jacobson, Cornell Law School professor and founder of the Legal Insurrection Foun...
Sarah Parshall Perry on ABA Accreditation, Teachers Unions, & Gender Ideology
Sarah Parshall Perry of Defending Education joins Freedom to Learn for a fast-moving conversation on the biggest legal and policy fights in education today. We cover the launch of Defending Education’s new litigation center, the power of accred...
Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva on Education Freedom, Flexibility, & Funding
Arkansas is streamlining the K-12 education bureaucracy, investing in educators, and expanding families’ options. On today’s episode of Freedom to Learn, Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva covers the rollout of the transformat...
Michael Torres on Disrupting the SAT/ACT Duopoly, Policy Barriers, & the Fight for Assessment Choice
The Classic Learning Test is disrupting the standardized testing status quo. Michael Torres, CLT’s Director of Legislative Strategy, explains how this fast-growing exam is quietly challenging the SAT/ACT duopoly, offering a rigorous alternative...
Keri Ingraham on Scaling Back Federal Dominance, Union Control, & Bloated Bureaucracy in K-12 Education
What does it actually look like to unwind federal control of education? Keri D. Ingraham, Director of the Discovery Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education, joins the podcast to discuss the first year of efforts to scale back the...
Kathleen O’Toole on Classical Education, AI, & Rescuing a Lost Generation
What if the real education crisis isn’t falling test scores, but a generation losing the ability to focus deeply, think critically, or even just read an entire book? In this episode, Dr. Kathleen O’Toole of Hillsdale College explains why today’...
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Christy Wolfe on Federal Education Silos, Bipartisanship, & State Constraints
Bipartisanship may be rare in Washington, but it still exists! This week, Christy Wolfe of the Bipartisan Policy Center joins us to discuss the Commission on the American Workforce’s sweeping new blueprint to connect education to opportunity an...
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Tiffany Hoben on Financial, Academic, & Discipline Chaos in West Virginia Public Schools
In this week’s episode, Tiffany Hoben, a former teacher and administrator, exposes the deep, recurring failures in school governance and accountability revealed in her analysis of West Virginia’s Special Circumstance Reviews of districts and sc...
Jay Greene on Radical Graduate Student Unions, Teachers Unions, & Foreign Influence on Higher Education
Graduate student unions are supposed to advocate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions, but according to a new report, “The Radicalism of Graduate Student Unions Affiliated with the Teacher Unions,” some have become tools for forei...
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Patrick Graff on School Spending, School Choice, & the Benefits of Competition
“How should states invest limited education dollars to raise student achievement at scale?” New research from the American Federation for Children asked this question and found that Florida’s school choice investment was 11 times more cost-effe...
Debra Tisler on IDEA at 50, Due Process Costs, & the Fight for Services for Students with Disabilities
Despite the existence of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that has been in place for 50 years, many parents face acrimonious, heartwrenching, and expensive fights to ensure that their children’s unique needs...
Cory Brewer on Girls’ Privacy, School Board Accountability, & The Future of Title IX Enforcement
When parents in a small Wisconsin town discovered that male students are allowed to use girls’ bathrooms at their local high school, they didn’t stay silent. This week on Freedom to Learn, Cory Brewer of the Wisconsin Institute for Law...
