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The Ricochet Superfeed

Freedom to Learn: Neal McCluskey & James Shuls on Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining the Nation’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement

The Ricochet Superfeed

Ricochet

News, Politics

4.4651 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Neal McCluskey and James Shuls join the podcast to discuss their new book, which has a fantastic title: Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining America’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement. We discuss the true origins of educational freedom, tackle the pernicious myths around school choice and segregation, and touch on the pivotal figures and organizations […]

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Freedom to Learn podcast. I'm your host Ginny Gentles. This season, we're diving

0:06.7

into what it means to return education to states, communities, and families, and we're exploring

0:12.3

what becomes possible when education is freed from union dominance and federal control.

0:20.8

Fighting for the Freedom to Learn, examining the nation's centuries old school choice movement

0:25.3

is more than just a fantastic title this excellent and informative book dives into america's

0:30.3

complicated and fascinating educational history co-editors and chapter authors neil mccleski

0:35.9

and james shules join the podcast today to

0:38.3

explore the evolution of American education, debunk myths surrounding the origin of school choice,

0:43.5

and discuss the wide variety of educational options and funding mechanisms and the opponents

0:48.4

to those through the nation's history. We cover the Old Deluder Satan Act,

0:53.8

Horace Mann, James Blaine,

0:55.0

the Mass of Resistance, and even the KKK, so buckle up. Neil McCluskey is the director

1:00.9

of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom. He's the author and co-editors of multiple

1:05.3

books and the creator of Cato's public schooling battle map. James Schultz is the head of the

1:10.2

Education Liberty branch at the Institute for Governance

1:12.6

and Civics at Florida State University and a senior fellow at the Show Me Institute.

1:21.6

Neil McCleskey and James Scholes, welcome to Freedom to Learn.

1:25.6

All right, thanks for having us.

1:28.1

Thank you.

1:28.9

I had to have you because you have a book by the same name.

1:32.5

Fighting for the Freedom to Learn, examining America's centuries-old school choice movement.

1:37.8

So so glad that we're talking about Freedom to Learn on Freedom to Learn.

...

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