Choice Words by Freedom to Choose Schools

Choice Words is the official podcast of Freedom to Choose Schools. Hosted by executive director Jay Artis-Wright, each episode elevates the voices of the radical middle nonpartisan thinkers, educators, and families who believe in putting parents first. From homeschooling and micro-schools to charter and cyber schools, Choice Words dives deep into how leaders and families of color are navigating school choice and driving innovation. This show challenges the myth that parents and people of color lack knowledge about education, highlighting their stories, expertise, and power to drive change.

Choice Words by Freedom to Choose Schools is a kids podcast hosted by Freedom To Choose Schools, with 29 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Freedom To Choose Schools hosts Choice Words by Freedom to Choose Schools, a kids show with 29 episodes published.

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  Episode #5

  Activated Parents, Engaged Detroit: Bernita Bradley's Choice Words

  Sep 3, 202626 minS3

  What happens when a school loses your child, even for 15 minutes? For Bernita Bradley, it was the beginning of a decade-long journey from involved parent to full-time advocate, community organizer, and now school founder. In this episode, host Jay sits down with Bernita, a McLeod Society Fellow, founder of Engage Detroit, and longtime Detroit-based education advocate to talk about what she calls "activated parenting": the shift from showing up to actually understanding and shaping what happens inside your child's school. Bernita shares the story that changed everything, why she believes parents are experts too, not just stakeholders to be managed, and how Engage Detroit grew from 12 families to over 240, all built on a model of parents leading alongside, not behind, educators. They talk about the real difference between being an involved parent and an engaged one, what "practicing choice" means when it's rooted in protecting your child, and why Bernita believes the next generation deserves adults willing to get it right, starting now. This is a conversation about power, partnership, and what's possible when parents refuse to check out.

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  Episode #4

  From Katrina to BAEO: Kenneth Campbell on Building Black Leadership in School Choice

  Aug 13, 202627 minS3

  Jay sits down in New Orleans with Kenneth Campbell — education leader, FCS board member, and a founding force behind the DC and Louisiana charter school movements — for a wide-ranging conversation on the roots and future of school choice. Ken shares how he helped rebuild schools in post-Katrina New Orleans, co-founded the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), and spent decades fighting for parents' right to choose. They dig into why school choice sparks backlash ("it's always about money, power, and control"), the urgent need for more Black men in classrooms, and why intergenerational leadership is critical to sustaining this movement. This episode centers a hard truth: representation changes outcomes — and the work isn't finished. ️ Choice Words is brought to you by Freedom to Choose Schools.

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  Episode #3

  Turning the Tassel: Agency’s New Study Uncovers What Happens After Graduation

  Jul 30, 202627 minS3

  What actually happens to kids after they graduate? Not their GPA, not their test scores — do they get the credential, land the job, earn the living, build the life? This week, host Jay sits down in New Orleans with Debbie Veney, founder and CEO of Agency, to dig into Turning the Tassel — a 5,000-person study, conducted with the Harris Poll, tracking a full decade of high school graduates (and, as it turns out, the entire first graduating generation of Gen Z). The findings are hard to argue with: charter school grads are "crushing it" on nearly every life indicator, earning about $22,000 more a year on average — and for Black, Latino, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Native American graduates, that gap jumps to roughly $55,000. As Debbie puts it, "that's a whole 'nother job." Jay and Debbie get into why the data drew zero pushback, how charter schools have effectively closed the degree attainment gap, and why it's time to stop measuring our kids' success by a report card and start asking the right questions. It's a conversation about outcomes, equity, and putting real numbers behind what families already know. Read the full report at agencyworks.org/research and tune into Choice Words, episodes released bi-weekly.

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  Episode #2

  The Real New Orleans Story: School Choice Before It Had a Name

  Jul 16, 202619 minS3

  Long before "school choice" became a national buzzword, Black families in New Orleans were already choosing. Through navigating segregation, Jim Crow, and a broken system to find the best path for their kids. On this episode of Choice Words, host Jay sits down in New Orleans with Patrick Dobard the former superintendent of the Recovery School District and a New Orleans native whose own family history stretches back to the earliest days of the city's education reform movement. Patrick shares the story you rarely hear: growing up between Clark High School and Saint Augustine, the Black educators who shaped him, and how Hurricane Katrina reshaped a city already navigating choice for generations. He and Jay dig into the false idea that school choice is an either/or and why Patrick describes New Orleans' education landscape as a "gumbo" of options, not a battle between camps. This is a conversation about history, family, culturally relevant leadership, and what it really means to own your education, your community, and your future. Brought to you by Freedom to Choose Schools. Subscribe for new episodes of Choice Words twice a month.

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  Episode #1

  Live From New Orleans — Ahmed White on Belonging, Foster Care & Building The Rock Academy

  Jul 2, 202624 minS3

  Jay Artis-Wright hits the road. Season 3 kicks off live and in person in New Orleans with Ahmed White, founder of The Rock Academy in Nashville. Ahmed didn't set out to be an educator — he set out to be a lawyer. Instead, he built a high school designed with opportunity youth instead of for them, based on what students themselves said they needed: belonging, flexibility, and relevance. He's also adopted and raised four Black sons out of the foster care system, and he opens up about the emotional weight — and the joy — of parenting kids the system had already counted out. 🎧 Follow Choice Words for what's next. 📲 @myrockacademy | 🔗 chooseschools.org | #FightToChoose

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