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Code Switch

The fight over public education, from Texas to the White House

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 β€’ 14.5K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For months, the Trump administration has been making moves to dismantle the Department of Education β€” with mixed success. But when it comes to the fight over public education, some of the most significant dustups are happening on the local level, with school boards around the country. Today, we're looking at one of those fights, which played out in a rapidly changing suburb of Dallas called Southlake.

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Transcript

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It's Gene.

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And before we get to the show this week, I want to talk for a minute about public media, which you've maybe heard mention the news a few times this year. Because Code Switch is public media. It's a big part of what makes our show and all the NPR podcasts you love so unique. Well, as of this fall, federal funding for public media, including NPR and NPR local

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keep bringing you episodes of Code Switch.

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It's been such a privilege this year to bring you all kinds of intimate, messy, and deeply reported stories and conversations that put the news in context.

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Stories about who and what free speech is really for, about how undocumented families are navigating the looming threat of ice.

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at plus.mpr.org. All right. On to the show.

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What's good, y'all? You're listening to Code Switch. I'm Gene Tempe.

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Okay, so in November, the Trump administration said it was continuing with its plan to dismantle the Department of Education.

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