Episode 21: On Why Hybrid Schools Matter to Families, Educators, and the State

[MUSIC PLAYING] You're listening to Community Crafted Education, where we explore alternatives to conventional K-12 education and their potential impacts on society and culture. I'm Eric Wairn, director of the National Hybrid Schools Project. On this episode, Gerard Robinson from the University of Virginia delivers the keynote address at the 2026 National Hybrid Schools Conference in Atlanta. A keynote speaker this year is Gerard Robinson from the University of Virginia. Gerard is a professor of practice in public policy and law at the Frank Batten School of Leadership in Public Policy and the School of Law at UVA. Lately, he's been traveling the world to meet with prison leaders, elected officials, educators, nonprofit executives, and employers involved in criminal justice reform. He has been in the past the executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity in Washington. He served as the Commissioner of Education for both Florida and Virginia. And many years ago, was a program director and later the presidents of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. I've known Gerard for a long time. His work actually inspired-- his work on school choice and school desegregation actually inspired my dissertation work in graduate school before I knew him. But he did also spend some time in Atlanta himself, so it's good to sort of welcome him home here, too. So please help me welcome Gerard Robinson. [APPLAUSE] I was waiting for the music, because I'm happy. It's too late now. The reason I bring that up is because they said, can we play because I'm happy when you come up? I said, yeah, but I prefer back that thing up. But they didn't play that either one, so I'll leave that one along. So it is good to be back here in Atlanta. And the father of three daughters, two of my daughters, were raised here. So it's good to be back in one of them, 18 days ago, made my wife and I grandparents for the first time. So we're excited. So I do think the-- because I'm happy, theme is important, because it's going to lead into something I'm going to talk to you about in terms of happiness. Here's why I say this. We the people in order to form a more perfect union. Now, I can tell you in the 30 years that I've given speeches about education. This is the first audience where I've ever opened with a line from the Declaration of Independence. But let me tell you why. It's that solely because I'm from the University of Virginia founded by Thomas Jefferson, who pinned the Declaration of Independence. But in February of this year, UVA did something pretty unique. It opened up its vault and pulled out one of only two of the original declarations of independence in the United States. In fact, there's no other place in the world that has two copies of the Declaration. And so even though I'd read about it in school and talked about it in seeing videos, I had never had an opportunity to actually see one in person. So I looked at it. And when I looked at it, I decided that I would pause, think, and exhale. Like how did we get here? Now, as a professor, trust me, I've heard all the dynamics associated with the Declaration of Independence, its liabilities, its challenges, its contradictions. I got it. But to actually see the document made me stop, pause, and think, how did we get to the point where it end right now? And the reason that's important for a room like this is because I'm in a room with a lot of people who have declared your own Declaration of Independence. In fact, you are declares of independence in a unique way. And to think about how we got here 250 years later, it's just worth taking a look at where we were 250 years ago. Do you know that the largest city in the United States of 1776 was Philadelphia, and they had 30,000 people? Now, anybody in there from Philly? You have schools and blocks with 30,000 people. 1776, when we're talking about we, the people, they weren't really talking about a lot of women. Or women at all. And when I look around this room 250 years later, this room looks a lot different than 1776. But it's worth noting that even though no women sign the Declaration as worth noting that members of the founding generation were in fact women. Think about Abigail Adams. She's the only-- in fact, now, the only two women in the United States to have a husband and son as president. And while she wrote letters back and forth to him, she says, well, why you guys are thinking about independence and the pursuit of happiness? She said one thing. If you want to have heroes, if you want to have statesmen, if you want to have philosophers, you have to have educated women. She was saying that back then. And of course, we know in 1776, one in four of the people in the US who look like me, at least one in four roughly were formerly or were at that time enslaved Africans. Small free population. But it's worth noting that even before 1776, and the push for Declaration of Independence, that in 1773, you had someone named Prince Hall, who was a enslaved African who worked with some free Africans. And what they said was, in 1773, the same year, you have a break off between New York and another state. They said, we want to create schools for our families. So even before you had a Declaration, you had a movement for education, even amongst people who themselves weren't free. And all of this is pretty interesting in one part, because when you talk about a Declaration of Independence, the question is, what do you want independence from? Here's the question. 1776. How many state constitutions do you think had an education clause in it? Just a while, yes, you got 13. You got zero here. I'll take zero. What's another number? I'll take all of those and free them. It's not just me. I have zero here, or there I see one. I feel like I'm in it. I see one over here, zero, zero, five, six, five, two states, two states, two states, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. And at the time we saw, at the time that we actually signed the Declaration of Independence, only five states, only five had a declaration, only five had an education clause. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and drum roll, Georgia. Ah, it's always the ooh and the ahs when it comes to the Southern states. And particularly, North Carolina and Georgia, and yet the first two public schools in the United States, University of North Carolina and Georgia. Another story for another speech. But it's just worth noting that at the time we had the Declaration and the Constitution, only five states had an education clause, but what did we have? We had learning. We had literacy. Why, because families were involved. In fact, families are the first educators. Families were the first one to create schools before there were buildings, there were brains. Before there were ideas of rules and regulations, people said we have to do something different. And so the revolution that you've declared, 2026, is not radically different from the first. Now just think about it. What do you want independence from? Let me start with you. I like to have my kids at home really kids. I'm going to have them go for it. I'm just getting to see them on the floor. Mom, eight parents. I want them home with me. I want to see them more than I see it here. So a Declaration of Independence. What about you? Uh, photo-richly regulation. And as a former secretary of education, first of all, I'm offended that you don't want more regulations in your life. Declaration of Independence from regulations. What about you? Pretty much the same. The Declaration I want to not have so many regulations and so many boxes to check. Ah, the box checking. Box checking is real. You as micro-schoolers and hybrid schoolers have seen more boxes than you've seen on a checkerboard. You've got boxes to check. And I'll do one more. Yes. I'll take you. Yeah. [INAUDIBLE] Same as everyone else. Now here's the interesting thing. When the founding generation-- I'm including men and women and the enslaved and the free-- I'm clear of everyone-- when they want independence, one of the hardest things for people who want independence to realize is that the person you're asking independence from has no concept of freedom. Like the British are looking at the people across the pond saying, why do you want independence? We're here for you. We give you money. We give you rules and regulations. We protect you. Why would you want to leave? It's because they have no concept of what freedom looks like. That's number one. Number two, at the point that the British realize that these because when these ran bunches, people really truly wanted to leave, was the fear factor. Fear is powerful. The opposite, biblically speaking, of love isn't hate, it's fear. And when people are fearful, they clamp down. I did it, he told me not to touch it. They clamp down and they want to hold on. And what you represent to them is fear, even though you're not trying to tell us to destroy the public school system. Maybe you want to destroy aspects of it, maybe you want to destroy some of the bureaucracy, but you're not trying to destroy public education, or the majority of our students for the foreseeable future, we'll call home. They're fearful that you're taking students away, and as what, if you're taking students, what also you're taking away? Money. When is your money in the first place? You pay into the system. You have the fear because you're asking someone who's been a parent to you, to all of a sudden say, you think you know what you're talking about, you're too young. What do you know? And so, as you think about the declaration of independence in 1776, and we move it to 2026, just realize you fight the similar battle. Now, how do I look at this practically as it relates to education? I've had a chance to serve in different roles. Number one, I've had a chance to be a come-of-founding member of two charter schools. So, I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of having to start a charter school. I had a chance to move to Millwalky. How many of you, by show of hands, are familiar with the person named Dr. Howard Fuller? Okay. So, Dr. Fuller, in 2004, attended an event we had the Kato Institute where we were talking about Brownie Board of Education at 50. And Dr. Fuller walked up to me in the ways that he said he can. He said, "Dr. Howard, you know, the research you're doing is cute." That's nice. He said, "You need to move to Millwalky." And I was as Charlottesville. I said, "Why?" He said, "Because in 2004, he said Millwalky is the only urban public school system in the United States with three school systems at work. Traditional, charter, and publicly funded vouchers. And of course, when I move there, there's the fourth home school. He says, "I'm not saying we've got everything right. There's some challenges we have. But the future of schooling in the United States will look a lot like Millwalky, but you have to come and see it. So I leave Charlottesville, I get there, and for those of you in the mid-wrestle laugh, it's, I think, early September and I'm wearing a sweater. And I walk it to his office and he said, "Are you sick?" I said, "Why?" He said, "You're wearing a sweater." I said, "I'm cold." He said, "Follow me." He walked me around the office, it's September and Gerard's cold. And of course, I had my first real winner in Millwalky and understood what he had to say. The two years I spent in Millwalky, as our previous speaker said, was a rehearsal for what I'm talking to you about today. A large American city that at one point had over 100,000 students at that time, roughly 60,000. Then lost 40,000 students. It was a city where you could have actually dropped out of high school in the 40s and the 50s and the 60s and the 70s. Why? Because you were in a blue collar town and I grew up in a working class home. My dad worked 47 years as a member of a union for Lockheed. Before it became Lockheed Martin, he was an airplane wing mechanic. I was a three year member of a union when I unloaded 18-willa grocery stores and bad groceries and was a cashier. So I understand the importance of union. He said, "You could drop out. Get a job at a brewery." I.E., the Millwalky Brewers in terms of the baseball team, and make a living. And people sent their children to Catholic schools and private schools, public schools in college. And then you had a change in labor economics to the 1970s. And all of a sudden, what happened? You needed literacy. I make a difference between literacy and education. We'll get to that. But people needed an education. So I said, "So what happened?" He said, "We created a multi-sector option for families to figure out what they want to do. And while I was there, I met home schoolers as well." Do you know that when I was there in a city that had 60,000 students roughly a little larger than Atlanta, how many public high schools do they have? Traditional? Nine. For us, one of the largest cities in America because we didn't need them. And I said, "Ah, I see what you guys are doing. You had to fit in where you can get in." And they did it through vouchers and charters and traditional schools, and they had home schools. But the revolution that you, micro-schoolers and hybrid learners and teachers are in is so radically different from even those three. And I had to figure out what framework do I use to put in context your Declaration of Independence. And I said, "Ah, maybe I'll find a biblical passage that'll make sense." And so I think about the Book of Acts chapter 27, 43 and 44. So 44 says that there were people who floated in on what? Broken pieces. That people were in the water, shipped disrupted. And all of a see if something people grabbed on to what they could hold on to. And they floated onto the land on broken pieces. The reason hybrid schools, micro schools, and the work you're doing is so different and scary to people. Let's be clear. This is also scary to people who are, who call themselves, true reformers. It's scary to them too because you didn't ask us for permission. You didn't ask for permission. So it scares some of us as well. But you're floating in on broken pieces and I said, "Ah, now that's very different. Some of the pieces you're floating in on are schools with five people. How many of you have a micro school that has anywhere from five to 20 students?" High hands. All right. How many of you have a school more than 20? Ah, five years ago Eric, this would have looked very different. I want you to start thinking and articulating what you do when you explain it to people. That your micro school is part of a broader conversation of people floating in on broken pieces. That's not a bad thing. I'm simply saying that the boat of learning in the United States has cracks. COVID probably opened up more nuances than some of us knew. But some people are jumping off willingly. And for some of the cracks that have been there for a long time, I'm a grab this piece. I'm going to hold on to this one. Some of it is micro schooling at home. Some of it is micro schooling with home schoolers. I can tell you when I was initially involved in the early voucher movement and the tax credit movement, we couldn't have. We couldn't find a lot of home schoolers who wanted to get involved. I get it. You said, "But Gerard, I know you support tax credits. And I believe you want to help families. But you won't be in the same position in another day. And someone else could step in your shoes and guess what? They may not like what we're doing now. So I understand why home schoolers weren't involved. I can tell you this is the first time I've seen and heard from so many home schoolers who are saying we want to be a part of this because the other folks can learn from us as well. So there's a aspect of it that's floating in on broken pieces. There are charter schools in this room who are floating in on broken pieces. As much as we tell you that we give you all the money that you want, you're floating in on broken pieces. And one of the advantages that micro schoolers can learn from the charter school movement is many of them have challenges with business. They understand what it's like to have rules and regulations on what constitutes a school. How many of you went to college, you graduated, you said, "I'm going to become a school founder." You hear the laughter. Right. Even if you took a class in education policy or finance, no one talked to you about a building code and how many square footages you need in order to call something a learning space versus a curricular space. No one spoke to you that your fire code violation made sense for 100 students but if you had 101, you need a new building. And then no one of course wants to give you funding for it. So I'm telling you, for the micro schoolers and the hybrid learners, their lessons about building and building codes and all of that you can learn from the charter school people. You know for the vouchers and the education, I'll get the education tax credits, the vouchers and the tax credit families. If you want to learn about how to work in a unique way to support the needs of families, charter's do it too but it's unique with the private schools. Now some of you have religious schools. I wish I could tell you that all the families you work with behaved biblically. Oh I wish I could tell you that when you promised families that we're going to have accountability that they didn't think it meant them. That's for the students, not me. I wish I could tell you that we created private schools to teach students how to learn and move and those great things that we actually inherited students who didn't fit. the program, the mission statement, or the curricular creative it because you have students with all types of learning challenges and learning gifts. I've talked to homeschoolers and micro-schoolers and hybrid leaders in this room who said, I have gifted children. Do you know how many people think that gifted children haven't made? They don't. As Eric mentioned, I work in criminal justice reform. In the last three years I've gone to Germany, Kenya, Norway, and Brazil to visit prisons, but I also do the same thing in the United States. Do you know how many people who are gifted, who are incarcerated? They just learn differently. We say, ah, they act it up. That wasn't the crime. That wasn't the crime wave. This was a crime wave. Bye-bye. We can't work with you. That's the crime wave. And so gifted students need what you have. And so there are things that the traditional system can learn from you as you work with students who have different needs. What is some of you floating in on broken pieces that are only funded by traditional funders? And I want all the traditional funders to continue to fund you. But you've got organizations like Stan, the Gather, and Ed, Choice, and Vera Avela, and others. Who are going to give you an opportunity to fund what you want to do in a different way? But realize as someone who used to provide money. This is a two-way street. I'm giving you money. What the micro-schoolers and hybrid learners, leaders can tell us, is for the first time you can tell me what I need to know about how my money works. Not how many students learn. That's important. Now how many parents participate it? But you literally are going to teach me something about learning that I don't know. I don't believe you can have a weavers people in order to form a more perfect union. I don't think you can have a perfect union or a republic without literate people. I didn't say schooled people. I didn't say educated people. I said literate people because literacy is more than that. It's text-dexterity, it's comprehension. But we had to find ourselves literate before we created the school or a building. And so as I close, I just want you to remember as we celebrate the 250th Alan Proversiary of the Declaration of Independence. Oh, sorry about that. That's on camera so you saw it happen accidentally. So my wife will be calling me soon. Oh, you get ready to fight about independence, young man. I want you to realize that as they signed a Declaration of Independence, the people they wanted independence from were scared and inarticulate about what freedom looked like. You have people now who are in the same way in 2026. But I'll take it a step further and say you could do something different than the founding generation. You're not simply in the middle of a revolution. Don't simply call this a Declaration of Independence. Call this a Declaration of Independence. Look at this room. As our first speaker said, you're not going to find a lot of rooms that look and feel like this. Let people in this room who eat different food, different zip codes, voted for different people, read different books. But you come together on one thing. Learning matters. So I'm just glad to say that I have a chance like all of you to be in the middle of a Declaration of Independence and like any revolution sometimes you're too close to it. I want to thank you for what you do. I want to encourage you to remain unpopular. I want to encourage you to also remember that 50 years from now when we have the 55th anniversary of this event, someone's going to look at this and say, wow, look how small the room was. I can't believe people weren't interested in micro schooling. What were they thinking about? Things have changed. So keep up the revolution and thank you for your time. Thank you for listening to Community Crafted Education, a podcast hosted by the National Hybrid Schools Project and Kennesaw State University's Michael J. Cole's College of Business. If you have any questions about the topics we discussed on today's show or want to learn more about what we do, please look up the National Hybrid Schools Project or reach out to us directly at coalscollege.com/hybrid.