Watchdog.org Podcast

This is “Sit Down, Shut Up,” Watchdog.org’s podcast examining education issues at the national, state and local levels. Host Ben Yount take a critical look at the education establishment, the growth of school choice and the ways free markets can be a part of fixing America’s broken school system. In this week's episode, Yount sits down with Paul Brennan at the recent Chicago School Choice Conference to talk about the growth of school choice options across the country. Even though many school choice programs have been limited in their scope and targeted to only the poor, they are undoubtedly working. Then, Yount chats with Dan McGrath, president of Leo High School in Chicago. The school is in the middle of one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in the city, but the school had a 100 percent graduation rate - miles ahead of the public schools across the rest of the city. If Illinois had a legitimate school choice program, McGrath says students "would be lined up out the door" b