The Learning Curve

This week, on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. Kandice Sumner, President & CEO of METCO, Inc. Dr. Sumner shares the history of Massachusetts’s voluntary school desegregation program and reflects on her own experience as a Weston/METCO alumna. She explains its role as a national model, serving students from Boston and Springfield in suburban districts. Dr. Sumner discusses the students and families who participate, the academic and personal opportunities METCO provides, and the enormous demand that exceeds available seats. She examines research on METCO’s long-term outcomes, including stronger academic performance, graduation rates, college enrollment, and career prospects. Dr. Sumner also considers the program’s long bus rides, the ways students are integrated into receiving districts, and differences in outcomes for boys, girls, and first-generation college students. Finally, she addresses METCO’s funding constraints, limited enrollment growth, and policy changes that could expand METCO's public-school choice for urban students across Massachusetts.

This week, on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. John Ferling, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of West Georgia. Prof. Ferling explains how Jefferson and Hamilton’s sharply different political and economic convictions shaped the early American republic. He explores Jefferson’s American Revolutionary politics, mistrust of centralized power, and more states-driven vision for the nation. Ferling also discusses how Hamilton’s military service under George Washington shaped his case for an energetic national government and political economy grounded in commerce, banking, and manufacturing. He examines the two statesmen’s cabinet clashes, their 1790 compromise, and competing views on constitutionalism, debt, tariffs, and foreign policy. Ferling also considers their responses to the French Revolution, the Jay Treaty, and the Alien and Sedition Acts. He explores Jefferson's victory in the election of 1800, Hamilton’s mortal conflict with Aaron Burr, and how the enduring legacy of Jefferson and Hamilton's rivalry still influences American political life and policy today. Prof. Ferling closes with a reading from his book, Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation.

This week, on a Halloween edition of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Leslie Klinger, the definitive annotator of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Klinger explains why Count Dracula remains an enduring figure and offers a portrait of Stoker, the Irish writer and theater manager whose imagination powerfully shaped classic horror fiction. He traces the history of vampire lore and the late nineteenth-century European context from which Dracula emerged. Klinger examines Stoker’s inventive epistolary structure, told through journals, letters, a ship’s log, and newspaper clippings. He analyzes the novel’s main characters, from Jonathan and Mina Harker to Lucy Westenra and the Count himself. Klinger also discusses Dracula’s themes of Victorian morality, psychological terror, faith, modern knowledge, science, and ancient evil. He considers why nineteenth-century Gothic fiction continues to captivate readers and shape horror storytelling worldwide. In closing, Klinger reads a passage from Dracula.

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. Melodie Wyttenbach, Executive Director of Boston College’s Roche Center for Catholic Education. Dr. Wyttenbach reflects on her career in Catholic schools leadership across the country and how Catholic education’s commitment to the true, the good, and the beautiful can foster a durable faith and sense of purpose in students. She examines the mission and operational realities confronting K–12 Catholic schools, including enrollment, governance, and labor costs, while highlighting promising models such as Cristo Rey’s work-study approach. Melodie considers how Pope St. John Paul II’s witness can help leaders connect faith with young people’s lives, and how a classical liberal arts foundation equips students to navigate modern challenges. Finally, Dr. Wyttenbach explores the expanding landscape of school choice, tax-credit programs, and ESAs, as well as what Pope Leo XIV’s papacy may mean for the future of Catholic education in America and worldwide for families and communities.

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University and Pioneer Senior Fellow Steven Wilson, speak with Dr. Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and author of Reclaiming Liberal Education in America. Berkowitz reflects on the education that led him from Swarthmore College to the study of philosophy, political science, and law. He explains the ancient Greek meaning of “know thyself” and how Socratic inquiry seeks to understand universal questions about human nature, virtue, justice, and the good life. He distinguishes liberal education from a relativistic one, arguing that students should learn to question authority while cultivating moral virtues and respect for the law. Drawing on the examples of Frederick Douglass and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he discusses how Americans can pursue civic reforms through the nation’s Founding principles and upholding constitutionalism. Finally, Dr. Berkowitz reads a passage from his book Reclaiming Liberal Education in America.

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick, a nationally recognized Mark Twain scholar and author of The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn. Jocelyn reflects on her more than forty years as an English teacher, including her work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and how she came to study Twain’s American classic. She explores Twain’s biography, the connections between The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Huck’s distinctive narrative voice. Dr. Chadwick discusses the central importance of Huck and Jim’s evolving friendship, the novel’s portrayal of antebellum slavery, and the significance of the Mississippi River. She examines the book’s enduring controversies around race, Huck’s moral decision to help his friend and runaway slave Jim, and Twain’s much debated ending. Finally, Jocelyn closes by reading a passage from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Tim Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and former mayor of Worcester and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Murray reflects on his Worcester upbringing, public-school education, and path from local leadership to statewide office. He discusses Worcester’s industrial legacy and the partnerships that helped make vocational-technical education a centerpiece of the city’s economic renewal. He explores how Massachusetts voc-tech schools used standards, accountability, and school choice to strengthen both academic and occupational outcomes. Murray also notes Worcester Technical High School’s national recognition from President Barack Obama, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Gen. Colin Powell. He reflects on Dr. Sheila Harrity’s leadership and the collaboration among business, labor, higher education, and government that helped drive the school’s success. Finally, he addresses the growing demand for voc-tech programs, their role in expanding opportunity for students, and the policy choices needed to strengthen urban vocational education nationwide.

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of Ohio State University speak with Lincoln Tamayo, Chief Operating Officer of Academy Prep Foundation and Head of School at Academy Prep Center of Tampa. Tamayo reflects on the formative experiences and educational principles that have guided his work across public schools, higher education, and nonprofit leadership. He discusses the late Boston University president John Silber’s influence and the BU/Chelsea Partnership, including the challenges and rewards of advancing reform in an urban school district. Mr. Tamayo also recounts leading English for the Children of Massachusetts, the statewide ballot initiative that changed the Commonwealth’s bilingual education laws. He compares education reform in Massachusetts and Florida, explores Academy Prep’s work serving middle-school students, and considers Florida’s evolving school-choice landscape. Finally, Tamayo addresses the policies and leadership needed to strengthen academic standards, expand opportunity, and improve student outcomes nationwide.

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of Ohio State University speak with Dr. Patrick Graff, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. Dr. Graff discusses his journey from teaching third grade in Florida to working as an education researcher and policy advocate, and how seeing students benefit from tax credit scholarships shaped his interest in school choice. He explores the design of school choice programs, including how restrictive eligibility requirements and “failing school” labels can limit access and private school participation. Graff also discusses his research comparing increased public school spending with greater school competition, sharing that school choice can benefit both public and private schools while improving educational outcomes cost-effectively. Finally, he examines the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, its broad student eligibility, potential to generate billions in scholarship funding, state participation, and what to watch as the program takes effect in 2027. 

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of Ohio State University speak with Owen Stearns, CEO of Excel Academy Charter Schools. Stearns discusses his more than two decades of experience in charter school leadership and education reform. He shares how his formative educational experiences and background in strategy consulting shaped his approach to leading Excel, which now serves nearly 2,000 students across six schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He explores Excel’s academic expectations, distinctive school culture, teacher leadership, and focus on strong outcomes in reading and math. Stearns also discusses serving urban students and families, supporting students at risk of falling behind, and managing the network’s expansion while maintaining academic quality. Finally, he examines Massachusetts’ charter school landscape, the political challenges facing the sector since the 2016 ballot initiative loss, and what policymakers and charter leaders can do to support high-performing schools.