Today’s episode is all about the American K–12 school system in Wisconsin and beyond. Educator and activist Bob Peterson joins us to discuss a host of issues related to public education, including austerity measures that have stripped funding from public schools, the proliferation of testing and its effects on learning, effects of privatization, the importance of play in learning, the school-to-prison pipeline, the role of social justice in pedagogy, and much more.
Bob Peterson is a Milwaukee-based activist and educator in the public school system. He formerly served as president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association and is currently running for the city-wide seat on Milwaukee’s school board. He is the founding editor of Rethinking Schools magazine and co-editor of several books, including Rethinking Elementary Education and Transforming Teacher Unions.