An Education Wars Armistice

With Gary Rubinstein

For years, education reformers fought it out with defenders of the traditional system. Chris Stewart and I were veterans of those fights and often found ourselves in heated and often personal debates with our opposition. We actually became friends because of our shared time in the foxhole. 

One of our common adversaries was a man named Gary Rubinstein, a former Teach for America Corps member turned reform critic who garnered a significant following for his anti-charter essays. Gary was among our fiercest opponents, someone who frequently engaged in personal exchanges with our friends and colleagues. 

Unbeknownst to us, Gary had recently become a loyal Citizen Stewart podcast listener, something we finally discovered when he wrote about the pod. He gave us credit for interrogating our gospel and pointing out a few areas of disagreement. That post opened a line of dialogue that led to his appearance on the podcast this week, where we worked out some baggage and began the hard work of articulating a shared vision for the future. 

These conversations are precisely why we started The Branch. Our hope is that, through dialogue, we discover we have more in common than we previously assumed. This episode was certainly a step in that direction. 

Listen here.