This is Busted Pencils, fully-ledded education talk.
Here are your hosts, Dr. Tim Slecker and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci,
educated educators talking education.
Yeah, that's what we do every Saturday.
It's Busted Pencils, fully-ledded education talk,
educated educators talking education,
and throw it out there to blue collar scholars calling all of you out there.
Johnny Lupinacci, Jess Producer, what is happening my friends?
Jess, you go first today.
Okay.
Well, I'm just really grateful, really thankful to be here with you guys on the radios.
Just coming off of this Thanksgiving weekend.
Well, in this Thanksgiving weekend, just enjoying the opportunity
to take some time to be thankful.
I think it's doing me some good on the inside.
It's making me feel good.
You know, it's a cold Wisconsin Thanksgiving.
And I'm thankful for that.
I love the changing of seasons.
I think it's just beautiful.
I love to experience all the different things that this world has to offer.
How you do, and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci.
Hey, I'm doing great.
You know, it's my birthday this week.
It's Thanksgiving.
It's Thanksgiving.
I'm grateful for all these things happening.
You know, but I tell you too, if you're able to tune in on the video or you check us out,
I'm rocking a big old November mustache.
I see.
Oh, yeah.
So for folks in the know, you know, November is is is also known as November.
It's sort of a hockey world thing, but I think it extends out beyond that.
We're men all around grow their mustache and, you know,
and those non-mustache growing friends of ours support us.
But we're raising awareness funds.
Yeah, we're raising awareness and funds for men's health,
specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer,
and really important to me mental health and suicide prevention.
So just a little thing we do out.
It's big in the hockey world.
I'm sure folks in Wisconsin are tuned into it, but all around the world.
It's November.
So my mustache is getting a little bit wild.
It's impressive.
It's a little bit menacing at twirling length.
So if you know how to tune in for that video,
which you can find on these serenity.
It is.
Yeah.
Civic media Facebook and YouTube pages search for busted pencils.
And you will get to see Dr. Johnny Lupinacci doing some excellent little twirls
as he's he's thinking about what he wants to say next.
It's wonderful.
Dude, do you have like a special mustache grease or a little wax?
If I keep this, I might have to look into it because it's a it's a no trim the mustache month.
It's getting kind of in the mouth at times.
You know,
you started off the sides.
You know, there was a kid at a hockey game last weekend,
who was chirping me from the fan from the fan stands.
And he's like, hey, bring those man.
Hey, bring those man.
Great.
It's been its job.
Oh my god.
Uncanny.
Uncanny.
So it's doing its job.
So I'm living well.
I'm extra great for for both of you for listeners of busted pencils.
Folks following us on the podcast downloads that drop every Monday Wednesday and Friday.
Right.
It's a change of the seasons.
We wrapped up first downs and Friday night lights with a drop yesterday.
Big shout out to all those state champs and all those fall sports programs.
And all of the students and volunteers who contribute to those amazing fall activities
that are every way part of not only our learning experiences in schools,
but a part of our community events.
We talk about education being the better off of democracy all the time.
It's the little everyday things that are democracy and action, right?
And the collaborative efforts that, you know, budgets contribute to school leaders,
teachers, coaches, volunteers like referees and people who are calling the games,
being part of security, taking tickets, running concessions,
all the student programs, everything.
I mean, it is so much involvement from our school and community partnerships
that make those things possible as we change gears for our Friday drop listeners
into winter sports.
We're excited.
But remember to it's always fun to also be here with you, Jess and Tim,
for our Saturday sessions.
Right.
So here we are at the 3 p.m. hour.
Right.
Listening to it on civic media app.
If you're catching this on the on the download in your podcast or hey,
tune in live next Saturday at 3 p.m.
and catch it on all the civic media networks.
But Tim and Jess, I'm doing really well.
Like I said, it's my birthday.
The mustache is going full board.
It's almost the end of November when we're back in the classroom.
Next week we changed gears into December and I'm refreshed.
It's been a much needed teaching break this last week.
Thanksgiving break is that first off.
We really get that first breather.
We really get as teachers since we go back to the classroom and in the,
you know, it's not even for you.
It's really the end of summer.
But you know, it's warm out.
It's humid in most of places.
We're reporting from.
And we're getting to it in the beginning of the school year.
And this is that first breather where we take a big deep breath.
Hopefully sleep in a little catch up with friends and family.
And for everyone who's a teacher out there, hopefully you got rest also over the past few days.
They were coming out of this though.
The Thanksgiving.
Yeah, I'm thankful to for all of the things that, you know,
well, more than anything, you two always showing up here Monday Wednesday Friday Saturday.
Just hanging, hanging with my buds,
doing the busted pencils thing.
But you know, here we are Saturday.
Oh, wow.
Johnny, you're talking about rest.
I'm telling you what, though, coming out of Thanksgiving.
This is the year.
How many meals did you cook?
Oh, my God.
My wife and I hosted this year.
We have, we're putting it out there.
We've made it very public.
We're not hosting next year.
One and done.
You know, we've got, we've, we've got six bedrooms in this house.
And they were all filled for the Thanksgiving.
And yes, I keep pointing it out there.
You know, we had turkey.
We had toeferky.
We had vegan types of mashed potatoes.
We had regular mashed potatoes because, yeah, guess what?
We had to feed vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters.
And you put those all together at a Thanksgiving table.
We had 12 people around the table all digging in.
Let me tell you what, trying to coordinate how you cook all those things so that they come out to the table at the right time.
Did you make a spreadsheet?
Oh, my God.
Yes, a spreadsheet, you know, out.
And of course, guess what?
Shopping, of course, all the way.
Wednesday night running out to the Walmart to make sure.
I think goodness, Walmart's they so been so late.
Because you know what?
When you need extra heavy whipping cream.
At midnight, the night before Thanksgiving.
You got to find a place because getting it.
So yeah, I mean, those are the things.
So I love Thanksgiving.
I actually I did love hosting it.
But at the same time, it's time for somebody else in the family next year to step up and and do the hosting.
Because it's a lot of work.
It was a lot of fun.
But I am not refreshed and kind of coming off of who gets to get to there.
Yeah, get me there.
But man, I cannot do it.
Heavy whipping cream.
Yeah.
You know what?
In fact, thinking about it, if you had to go and pick up that heavy whipping cream at midnight today before Thanksgiving.
We'd love to hear about it.
That's why we have the Busted Pencils Mailbag 608 557 8577.
That's the number 608 557 8577 Busted Pencils Mailbag.
You know, what kind of accoutrements did you have to go out and get for Thanksgiving?
Hey, did anybody totally blow it and have dinner served and went, oh my God, we forgot.
Here's a cool thing though.
If you are listening to the broadcast on Saturday, if you're listening on the civic media app,
you can go ahead and text us right from that app.
As you're listening to the broadcast, there is a one button click for you to text in.
That number will still get to us.
All in, unfortunately, you will not be connected to anyone.
But if you text us in through that number or the regular number that you're probably used to,
855 7524842, that's 85575 civic.
Right now, as you're listening to the broadcast, send us a text at that number.
We'll get it.
But if you want to leave us a voice message, send us that at 608 557 8577.
That's a new feature that we do have.
We love that feature.
I know.
In fact, you know, I kind of threw through a curve ball at you guys last time by pointing that out.
But you know, let's point it out there right now.
If you are the voicemail, actually, too, you want to ask Tim Johnny and Jess a question.
And we would actually be able to play that the following Saturday on the show so that we can try to answer your question.
We're putting that out there, too, that that line, 608 557 8577 as busted pencils.
You know, the gang ask us a question.
Well, dig in.
You know, we love it.
We're educated educators talking education.
Johnny, I see you put there.
You got a little pop quiz.
No, since you brought it up and we're talking, you know, thanksgiving and coming off of Tim.
I'm the opposite of you.
So as a teacher, I look forward to that break because I love to host things.
I love cooking.
I love organizing.
I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving because it automatically means I get to have everyone I know over open invite.
Right.
And I make tons of food because Tim, I know you're not a big left overs fan.
Talk about that yesterday.
The day after.
But you know, I'm a huge left overs fan.
So can't make enough food.
I love sharing food.
It's part of my, you know, cultural upbringing, big Italian family.
A holiday where you celebrate family friends, connection, being grateful for the things you have.
And being able to share that huge for me.
I love hosting.
So, but I'm curious.
All right.
Okay.
Was your favorite dish that you either either ate or made this week.
You know, it doesn't have to be exactly for Thanksgiving, but around the time.
What's the one?
So I'm going to give you a quiz.
Your favorite, your one must keep you get to keep one thing.
Right.
And you get to throw away one thing.
So you're best and worst from Thanksgiving.
Tim and then just go.
Oh, my best truly.
I love the non vegan non vegetarian hard core mashed potatoes with a little bit of turkey gravy coming over the top.
Maybe even some turkey giblets ground up into that gravy so that it drips over the side of those potatoes made with milk and butter.
And, you know, even some of that heavy whipping cream to throw.
I sneak, I sneak that in there just to put it in there.
That can't live without that.
But boy, I tell you what, man, I could do without.
The sweet potato casserole.
Okay.
Sweet potato casserole is just, you know, I mean, it looks fun, but it's always kind of like really.
What is this for?
I don't know.
That's where I'm at.
Oh, Jess, you're up.
You're a casserole.
You're out of quick clarification.
Sweet potato casserole and your traditions.
Does it have the marshmallows on top?
Oh, yes.
Of course.
Yeah.
I'm with Tim on this.
I don't like the sweet potato casserole.
And I think that they are sweet and delicious and scrumptious on their own and like mashed or anything.
But I don't like the casseroles with all the sugar and the syrups and everything.
It's just like sickly sweet to me.
The thing that I need to keep though, green bean casserole.
That's my, that's the one that I make.
I do everything from scratch and make my own crema mushroom soup.
And it's just, the only thing I don't make from scratch is the onion topping is no one can be crunching.
I want your recipe for that, Jess.
No.
All right, everybody.
Hold on tight.
Plus the pencil's more when we get back.
Ah, there it is.
I just love.
Yeah.
It's busted pencils.
It's fully letted education talk.
Educated educators talking education.
We say best bumper music out there.
We know it.
We love it.
Hey, it's busted pencils.
You know what though?
Two six oh eight five five seven eight five seven seven.
That's the mail bag number again.
Drop us a note.
Let us know what you love.
Let us know.
Hey, even what you don't love.
And also if you got a question.
We're kind of out there asking people, you know, ask us Tim Johnny and Jess a question.
And we'll, we'll play it on the air the following week on our Saturday.
We'll play it on the air the next week.
I'll show you the three o Dropper.
Show the three o'clock across all of the civic media stations.
And you know what?
Yeah, it could be fun because.
I think a lot of people would have some interesting questions and I would love to answer those.
And you know what though, too, come out of this.
Man, I'm so.
As you know, I'm not a big.
Leftovers guy.
So the fact that we spent the whole first part of this.
Go talking
about.
I'm done.
Moving on.
Let's go.
Moving on.
Rest on our bellies for a little minute.
You know, because I, again, I want to refer people to the last Wednesday.
We, we had a drop.
We had a guest.
David Pepper.
No, not Dr. Pepper.
David Pepper.
Dr.
David Pepper.
Come on from Ohio.
Politician writer.
Just a guy that I'd found on Facebook.
And he was really pointing out this unique phenomenon that went on with this election.
And I think there is still so much more to talk about that.
The reality is is that school vouchers, privatization put on the ballot across the country for this election were voted down.
The uniqueness is that they were voted down in counties that went substantially for President Trump.
In fact, as David pointed out in the smallest county with the heaviest Republican red.
It was like 70, 74 to 26 against vouchers against vouchers 80, 20 for Trump, 80, 80, 20 for Trump.
You know, and there's lots of ways.
I guess you can analyze that for me.
I'm really holding on to the fact that this is purely then an illustration of how incredibly horrible Democrats are at actually being a part of the connections that would allow our neighbors, our friends to vote in favor of.
In fact, the party.
This is what happens when the party Democrats have abandoned public education.
And I mean that over the last 30 years, particularly, they have, quote, always been about this nonsense, whether it was the no child left behind, but you know, raising standards, academic achievement, no child left behind, racing to the top, nothing there that is.
It touches that emotional feelings that people have about their local community public schools and how that could change the tide of how people vote.
You know, and in fact, even to the point where Democrats have been largely demonizing teachers for not bringing up those achievement gaps and things like that.
It to me, this points this out so much in the face, and I'm wondering whether or not Democrats are going to hear that message 74.
They voted in favor of their public schools when they went 80 24 Trump, Johnny, this to me is we've said it here all the time for years on busted pencils, you know what, you want you want to win.
You harness your local public schools because man, guess what, our neighbors, they like their schools, man, do not, you know, so I look at this and go, but I'm going to point this out, I'm going to bet that Democrats don't know how to take advantage of this fact.
I'm just because you know what, this is the the they don't like to support a populist movement. I think that Democrats are afraid of blue collar working class types of people, they have alienated them so much.
And the reality is is that, you know, what we do here, blue collar scholars pointing this out, guess what, that's where we you want to win elections, be in favor of your public schools, not in favor of standardized testing and curriculum and all of that crap, but truly advocates for public schools.
Man, I just went on a rant, Johnny sorry.
Yeah, Tim, and I think we're all, I was back up. I mean, you mean like packaged purchased curriculum and not.
We do have curriculum, right?
We do want, but even that though, the high, the high quality instructional curriculum materials that we've made that we've talked about, particularly that commercialized crap that gets shoved down the
roads of schools and teachers and family, all of that nonsense.
What what your yes, which is part of what is taking attention away from really good high quality right localized curriculum from expert teachers that are saying, let us teach.
Right, I'm going to come back to that because you're referring to that great episode we dropped on Wednesday, let teachers lead the charge.
David Pepper, we talk about it as blue collar scholars, like the importance, Tim, you talk about talking to your neighbor, we talk about really, you know, moving beyond these sort of identity, the identity politics of Democrats and Republicans and just getting down to the nitty gritty of what does it mean to be in your community and have differences,
but to also have commonalities that are in the interest of the common good and our public schools are those spaces.
They're the spaces where we learn to handle those differences to deliberate on them to learn about them to understand and value the importance that those differences have to a strong democracy.
And so it's not shocking to me that the vote goes the way it goes in terms of supporting public schools, we know that even though Tim, we were arguing about like this means the end of public schools if Trump is elected.
The people will not stand for the end of public schools, so they're misrepresented at the federal level in the presidential election.
And largely what we did learn and David Peppers, you know, on the groundwork tells us that by and large people and communities around this country support public education.
And we need to be all the way around more supportive of public education at the legislative level, because the legislators are not representing the people, both Democrats, like you're saying, and Republicans.
It's not a big issue that's not new to us to educated educators.
This has been the entire entire time of my career has been sent saying spent saying we need to pay closer attention to the decisions we make about our public schools so that we can be a stronger democracy.
Schools are part of the, you know, national defense.
We are only as strong as our future generations understand not only reading, writing and math, right, but the importance of being a democratic citizen, the importance of making educated decisions.
Not Tim, I'm going to come back to that word, educated, because boy, as blue collar scholars, do I have a bone to pick with educators.
And this is part of the failure of the democratic party and the low hanging fruit for the current so called Republicans. I'm not even giving them that.
But educated has become a little bit of a pejorative.
Yeah, it's been a little bit of a like, hey, I'm smarter than everyone else because I'm educated.
Now, when we say we're educated educators and blue collar scholars, we mean a little bit different version of that. So Tim, you take a little break.
When we come back together, I want to get into that. What does it mean to be educated? How do we shift that discourse so that we're using that as a unifying term and not as one to divide us.
Thanks for listening to plus the pencils.
I open up the sky and I'll save for you as we cross the great divide.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, plus the pencils fully let it education talk, educated educators.
Oh, man, it got me going there. It's educated educators talking education. And yeah, we're talking about that, you know, the whole thing Johnny left us with that question.
What does it mean to be educated in the fact that even that term now has become a form of a pejorative that say our neighbors potentially might look at this whole idea of what does it mean to be educated and how that kind of twists into the potential that that's a that's a negative.
And in fact, in some of these places where in Johnny, you made this connection potentially during the break, how is it that so many Trump voters truly have somehow been persuaded to believe that education is actually something they want to vote against potentially.
Yeah, Tim, I mean, I just want to come back to we've said it here on busted pencils that that schools have done a really good job of sorting people and have done a really good job.
Pull this out pull this away from the Republican Democrat divide stuff right now and the identities around that, but just in general, they've done a really good job of separating what it means to be educated in this country.
This is what it means to not be educated in this country, which is absolutely, you know, constructed in a really hurtful and divisive way, like if you're successful at school schooling the general idea of like, you know what happens in K 12 spaces that standardized tests and the curriculum.
Tim that you're saying we're done with like teachers will say over and over again, these aren't really designed around the best interests of our students and learning and strengthen our communities, right.
They're part of the sorting machine of schools and schools have done a really good job.
Oh yeah, imposing identity he's on on all of us, you've got the educated folks, they were successful at school and you've got the people who identify as not educated, which is could not be further from the truth.
So we talked about all the time as blue collar scholars, right.
The intelligences and the wisdom that is in some of our unschooled community, some of the people who are like school just didn't work for me, right.
I'm not smart. They did they've learned to identify as the not smart type.
That's always been around and that's been a problem, but it's, you know, it was highly politicized in the last couple of decades in really divisive ways and right.
And so, you know, the extreme right was able to say things like, hey, you tired of getting kicked by all these educated folks who make you feel bad for not being good at school.
Guess what schools actually kind of the problem and so are all these folks, all these learned folks, right.
And so you built a base of neglected and rejected and folks who have been told that they're less than most of their most of their life, like all of the all of their core memory years, right.
You have to talk about you start school like kindergarten and for the better part of, you know, 16 to 20 years, most kids are in school spaces, not saying schools are bad.
But in general, looking at the big picture, they've done a real number on sorting us and imposing a particular kind of identity.
On busted pencils, we're always talking about that team is schooling. Yeah.
And we work hard and teachers out there who are on the front lines. No, you're working all the time to be in learning spaces that are less schooling and more about being awake, more about being tuned into one another, the need, the different needs of the students and that connected with their families and their communities.
And to real hands on learning, right. And so those kinds of ways where we connect in our classrooms, don't always largely match the big system, right.
The factory of schools in this country that for excuse my my colloquial language, crap out us as educated or not educated, they just kind of sort us into two bins.
Educated going on to college, uneducated going into the work world, right.
And carry those identities sort of as success and failures in a really problematic way.
Well, in a two party system, right, which I'm going to kind of hammer at now again, like we're asking for things that are that require more than a two party system like Tim both you and I are hard on Democrats, because they have not by and large supported public education.
No, last 30 some years, even further, but at least in our careers, you know, we've time and time again been up against will maybe you'll get better. It's not getting any better.
Certainly more aligned to most teacher politics than the Republican party has been historically, but neither party really doing much good for schools.
And so we're hard on the Democrats, because we expect more from them as being constituents of that party.
But, but by and large, right, they fall short. And so we're calling for something that really, really begs a question or like, are we best served by a two party system.
So let's put that to the side table that because that's a little radical idea, like what would it be like to actually maybe have a working class party, right, which historically has been kind of problematic historically, but we're in a new moment where I do believe folks like you were talking about a populist movement.
Right. That doesn't have to be like historically what populist movements meant, right. And we can refer to that a little bit as history teachers to like rise of Nazi Germany and other populist movements.
This can be something very different, because there's also embedded in this moment of real fear that grown folks have of change and youth.
And it's a unique combination. Kevin Kumashiro, Dr. Kumashiro was on here a couple of episodes back talked about naming the moment.
We're going to have more episodes talking about that, but naming the moment and I highlighted that there's also a real need to say, as adults, by and large, we fear change, we resist it.
And youth, we have a real fear of our youth who are actually demanding that change in mass right now.
And so, you know, it would be a very different world to have a party that actually embraced youth energy that actually, especially with regards to education said, hey, let's listen.
This episode this week was called let teachers lead the charge. Let's listen to teachers. Let's empower young voices teachers are lines to those young voices.
Let's listen to those who are actually at the core of where the decisions being made about education come to action and fruition.
So I like that idea if we think about, you know, challenging a two party system, or at least within it demanding that they do more for education so that we can move past sorting education as a sorting machine and into more of education as like really coming into life to harnessing and recognizing the importance of consensus and difference.
These are beautiful things about a democracy. And I think when you're in a two party system and you have a school system that's by and large sorted people based on your successful you succeed, you get the benefits.
And sorry, you got you get pushed out actually we call it getting kicked out right or just graduated into this abyss of what we call, you know, the working force.
So we push folks out in label miss failures, we push another group of folks into a inside usually higher education or something else and call them success.
And I think it's a huge problem because it creates like a pastry dish for both political parties and a two party system to say, well, well, we're going to garnish the we're going to cater to the college educated needs.
Right. And the decisions and and you know what the other group saying, well, you know what, there's a whole lot of people who are sick and tired of being put down that will say just enough to say, we are your people.
So I'm I'm a little worried Tim that the current version of the Republican party is a populist movement.
Yeah, I was going to say, in fact, you're hitting moving me in the in the direction where I was kind of talking about in the break of going, you know, what though they've been incredibly successful, like you just said, in fact, let's, you know, David Pepper, that small little county in Kentucky, where 80, 20 in favor of Trump, but, you know, 74% of those people though in favor of their public schools.
And what does that point out, Johnny, I think what you said is how incredibly successful, though the Republicans have been at actually creating more of a populist movement with, as you say, you know, people who haven't gone on to higher education in that way.
And in fact, again, I understand that the majority of the population, too, is haven't gone on to college. And so the reality, though, there that they have been able to tap into that population.
The reality, though, too, that we're going to point out here, Johnny and I are not then advocating, in fact, in saying that the Republican party is the party of education, because, oh man, I'm.
When, you know, those 80, 20 votes, remember, sorry, I know you loved your public school, but I'm also really worried about the fact that you voted 80, 20 in favor of Trump, a guy who through Project 2025 and his constituents, everybody involved there, they have pointed out that they are coming after your local public schools in some way, shape, or form with a national voucher movement.
And so the reality that you voted in favor of your public school, but then also voted in favor of the Trump movement, the mega movement, the mega movement, which really does point out that they want to dismantle the form of local community public education, as we know it.
That's going to be a real issue in those smaller counties like that, where they point out that they love their public schools, because we have seen it time and time again, this party.
And in fact, in those strongholds where the Republican legislators who have held on in Texas, in Tennessee, to shield their local public schools from the voucher movement, the public, the Republican party is primarying those Republicans that have voted in favor of keeping their public schools local like that, they full out assault here.
So it's a confused moment, Johnny, to see that many people voting in favor of their local public schools, but that many people also voting in favor of a mega Trump movement that has public education in its crosshairs.
So how do you get around that?
Well, I'll get to that, but I want to clarify, because I think Tim, I want to just say, let's be as objective as possible, given our strong politics.
And let's say, what is this, what is this telling us?
Okay, because I know that most of our listeners and us, we've spent the better part of the last 20 years talking about vouchers, talking about these policy impacts on public education and the privatization push.
Right, so we're steeped in it, but what this stat tells us, you know, what this information tells us that people who voted for the Trump administration also voted in favor of their public schools is that by and large, these voters value public education, but not how it's currently being done.
And we actually share this, this concern with them, and they're not wrong. Democrats haven't done a dang thing to change it.
So sometimes we could look at that stat and I get it, it's so hard to be objective and to put it under a microscope like this, because there are so many things attached to the Trump administration that supersede this, right?
Like human rights, women's rights as part of human rights, like all these things that I never thought in my young life that well into my adulthood, we would still be grappling with as a community.
Now, how do we get there? I'm going to put the might put schools back under the microscope, because we've made human rights an issue of identity for educated folks.
If you're smart, you believe these things, and we've divided people around this stuff.
And what we know as a human, as human beings is that we are community people.
And if we're not feeling welcomed in our community, we're not feeling safe, we're not feeling embraced, we seek that elsewhere.
Right? And so schools have done a really good job of being important to communities, communities, see the importance of school systems,
but they want them to be better, more inclusive, more, more recognizing of diverse ideas, not just one, and I don't think it's accurate, but at least public discourse has mapped on to schools.
Schools are about being, and I'm going to come back to that pejorative, get an educated and become a liberal.
And the liberals I know have dug into that, that to be smart, you have to have these values.
And I don't disagree, but I don't believe they should have anything to do with how well we are at reading writing.
They should come alongside with it. Right? And I think that's, that's the message.
So just as where do we start? I think we can wrap up with some points to start with when we come back.
But you start with having conversations about how do we locally gain more control and have say and working together with our teachers, valuing what they say.
And let's do like David Pepper suggests, let's let the teachers lead all those teachers out there in the front lines.
Let's listen to what they have to say. That's what we're about here at Bustin pencils. So thanks for Bustin pencils with us.
Tim and Johnny break it down when we come back.
You don't want to listen, you don't want to understand. So finish up or drink and go home.
Listen up man, I'll tell you who I am. Just another stupid American. You don't want to listen, you don't want to understand.
So finish up or drink and go home. Finish up or drink and go home.
Oh, there it is. I love that.
We're back. Seven does. Bustin pencils.
Holy, let it. Education talk. Educated. Educators talking. Education.
Yeah, we still are out there. You know, we're trying to make sense of this election and the reality that, you know, in some of our smallest counties.
80% of the vote went to President Trump, but yet when given the opportunity to vote in favor of their public schools.
Those same voters voted in favor of their public schools. In other words, turning down the privatization and the voucher movement.
Johnny's given us a lot to think about though and truly recognizing the parties and how the parties themselves have contributed to this to two party system.
But Jess, you had a question you put there in the chat. Why don't you ask us again?
Yeah. So Johnny, I hear you about moving beyond the binary and I'm fully there with you.
I believe that this two party system that we have the way that it shunts people into this black and white.
Yes or no, you're on this side or that side mentality. It's not working for us.
And there are so many people who are dissatisfied with that system.
But where do we start? Where do we start finding the common ground? How do we get from.
You're voting for at the same time your public schools and a candidate who has made it very clear that he doesn't support public schools. How do you where do you start?
Well, yeah, Jess, I talked to a lot of people who voted exactly this way. And one of the things that was clear to me.
And that's why I love David, David Peppers also kind of, you know, anecdotally confirming these conversations in his area.
And they really misinformed that they were, they believed that they were localizing educational decisions.
Right. And so I think we begin by having conversations like up here at Busta pencils, when we're talking about, how do we truly localize?
Right. We talked about letting teachers lead listening to students and teachers together to our community needs.
And the belief, the misinformation belief that voting for the Trump administration meant localizing education.
And one of the things that I think the failure of the Democratic Party has been for decades in regards to education is, is, and this is difficult because in favor of politics that I hold.
So it's like, I have to go into this space rep to say, like, it's been in favor of the things I've supported. I'm, I'm a big, big fan of title nine.
I'm a huge, huge believer in human rights and children's rights.
And so that see that those things were valued by our, you know, federal government were important to me.
But the Dems have largely said they are kind of hope like they kind of send the message that they're for more of a federal imposition to local districts.
They've also state by state member education is a state right state by state been part of defunding our public schools.
So if I'm in like actually a rural community or any of our urban communities, I'm about fed up with the decisions made at either a state or federal level regarding my communities education, the schools in my community are not being properly funded.
They're not supported by Democrats or Republicans.
So any misinformation that tells me a vote for Trump is a vote for localizing control.
I actually talked to a group of educators, which I said, how could you be teachers? Like they know me so we could have this conversation and say, you know, how could you be teachers voting for Trump?
Right. And they said, we'll bring an education back to the state level.
And I thought, how, how could you, where are you getting that information? Like, where is it coming from?
So I think just it's really important for us to understand this, to listen.
But like you've even mentioned before, we need to start by having conversations.
We need to start by, and hey, if you want to join that conversation, just as a reminder me with the, with the universal signal for the telephone.
If you want to text us or give us a call, you can do that listener at 608 557 8577 and jump into this conversation about localizing education and strengthening our public schools.
So that to me, big wish list, right, move me on the two party system, get better representation for a constituencies, but understand that at the current moment we're in.
We are represented locally. These, these confusing statistics that we're getting to him are telling us that neither party represents the mass.
Right. And the popular vote is sort of a concession on that. And, and people making sense of a vast sea of misinformation.
And also telling us that they care about their local schools. So what can we do to really strengthen local public schools?
Well, got to ask that question next time because now it's time for your moment of sin.
Education becomes most rich and alive when it confronts the reality of moral conflict in the world.
Thanks everybody for busting pencils with us great conversation so much going on. Remind you to the busted pencils mailbag.
We do want to hear from you that number. If you want to drop us a note, it is 608 557 8577
Let us know what you're thinking. Yeah. And if you have a, you know, some way that you want to talk to your neighbor about what Johnny and Jess really pointed out the realities here that, you know, the potential misinformation disinformation.
How do we push that Johnny? I love the way you move that into that potential of going.
We thought we were voting in favor of localizing our education because you are right. That was the message that Trump says.
In fact, when he points out all the time that he wants to do away with the Department of Education, he follows that up with we're sending it back to the States as if this is a big move locally.
Man, so much going on. Check it out though. We love that you're hanging out with us on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. The podcasts are dropping Mondays that home room always there for you Wednesdays classes in session. Yeah, man. And then Fridays.
The drop first downs Friday night lights, although changing and hoping a bit of a name change. Yeah, Johnny, what's that name change your throwing out there for what's coming on?
And free throws and face offs. We're moving into winter sports and folks, of course, if you're listening live now, you know, to catch us every 3 p.m. on all the civic media networks.
Also, if you're listening a little after, means you grabbed it on all of the ways that our podcast drops. So wherever you get your podcasts, keep listening and thanks for busting pencils.