joshcowenmi.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Teaching is noble. But nobility can’t pay the bills or save for families’ futures. Instead of gutting public education to pay for voucher schemes demanded by billionaires like McMahon and Betsy DeVos, let’s reinvest in teacher salaries to help public schools thrive for all kids.

submitted 3 hours ago • 0 comments

I’ve spent the last 3 years fighting this kind of crap from billionaires gutting public education. How we spend our money shows what we value. I say: investing in kids, families, jobs and housing is more important than another tax cut for Betsy DeVos. www.freep.com/story/news/p...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

I’ll tell you how they’ll work—same as every other state. Average voucher users will be wealthier than a typical Texas family—and already in private school. For the rest: sub-prime providers will get a cash influx and flood the market—education’s version of predatory lending

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

8 years ago today, Republicans in the House voted to take away my health insurance (and that of millions of Americans). The day after my first chemotherapy. Now they're getting ready to attack our health care again.

submitted 1 day ago • 12 comments

I’ve spent the last 3 years fighting this kind of crap from billionaires gutting public education. How we spend our money shows what we value. I say: investing in kids, families, jobs and housing is more important than another tax cut for Betsy DeVos. www.freep.com/story/news/p...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

I’ll tell you how they’ll work—same as every other state. Average voucher users will be wealthier than a typical Texas family—and already in private school. For the rest: sub-prime providers will get a cash influx and flood the market—education’s version of predatory lending

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

I was baptized in a church called St Francis of Assisi—which shares a namesake with the pope who died less than two weeks ago. This is blasphemous as it is stupid.

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Paying Michigan teachers more isn’t just good public policy, it’s the right thing to do. www.bridgemi.com/guest-commen...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

“What the hell has Milton Friedman ever done for kids in West Texas” or other communities across the county? Real voters know the answer: nothing. That’s why it takes billionaire cash to force voucher schemes onto states. My comments to @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/05/02/t...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

My hot take is that investing in early education, smaller class sizes, school meals, HVAC upgrades, CTE and college access programs, STEM and literacy mastery and the teacher pipeline is a better education plan than building a weird cult.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

My hot take is that investing in early education, smaller class sizes, school meals, HVAC upgrades, CTE and college access programs, STEM and literacy mastery and the teacher pipeline is a better education plan than building a weird cult.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Remember this next time billionaire-backed DC think tanks tell you Republicans are the party of education

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

In 2 weeks—5/15 6pm—I’ll be sharing stories from my past 2 years fighting back against billionaires trying to privatize American education. And I’ll be sharing ideas for how to renew and restore public investments in schools, health care, jobs and more. Hosted by @midmichspartans.bsky.social

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Today SCOTUS weighs whether churches or church groups can run public schools. I’m a Christian man. It’s part of who I am. But hell no. Want to talk morals and values in public policy? Let’s start by talking about whether that GOP budget actually works for families. youtube.com/shorts/_qFD6...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

They come from different economic theories—Milton Friedman hated tariffs—but “this will take a while” and “ignore the bad news and chaos” has also been the school voucher lobby’s promise for the last decade.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

🧵Today, SCOTUS hears OK Charter Bd. v. Drummond & St. Isidore v. Drummond—cases that could force states to fund religious charter schools. It’s a direct attack on public education and the wall between church & state. The right-wing Justices are coming for our schools. We better pay attention.

submitted 5 days ago • 21 comments

Today SCOTUS weighs whether churches or church groups can run public schools. I’m a Christian man. It’s part of who I am. But hell no. Want to talk morals and values in public policy? Let’s start by talking about whether that GOP budget actually works for families. youtube.com/shorts/_qFD6...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

“Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray to be seen by others. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your unseen Father. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” —Matt 6:5 www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/s... via @nytimes.com

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

SCOTUS weighs a religious public school while state depts of ed fight the Feds. Those and other stories I’m watching today—Plus a note on the false choice between talking about democracy or the economy. My latest @edlawcenter.bsky.social @pfpsorg.bsky.social newsletter pfps.org/news-stories...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

SCOTUS weighs a religious public school while state depts of ed fight the Feds. Those and other stories I’m watching today—Plus a note on the false choice between talking about democracy or the economy. My latest @edlawcenter.bsky.social @pfpsorg.bsky.social newsletter pfps.org/news-stories...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Please understand this about private schools: Whether kids attend & remain enrolled is the school's choice Schs' handbook guidelines allow throwing kids out "at their discretion" when parents complain about unfair treatment.

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Participation in the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program Since the 2017 Reauthorization ies.ed.gov/use-work/res... "there has been no notable increase in eligible families' interest in the program. Most new applicants offered an OSP scholarship...choose not to use it"

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

In Mid-Michigan: More than 12,000 MSU jobs. 200,000+ families relying on Medicaid. $200 million+ in federal funding for our public schools. 132,000+ seniors using Social Security. We need to strengthen and renew these investments—not slash and destroy them.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Vouchers are a billionaire scheme to pay tuition for wealthy families—but are education’s predatory lending for the rest. All part of today’s disinvestment from schools, Medicaid, Social Security & more. I sat down with @nymag.com to discuss in this lengthy interview nymag.com/intelligence...

submitted 11 days ago • 7 comments

In Mid-Michigan: More than 12,000 MSU jobs. 200,000+ families relying on Medicaid. $200 million+ in federal funding for our public schools. 132,000+ seniors using Social Security. We need to strengthen and renew these investments—not slash and destroy them.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

In just a few…

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Don’t miss this powerful interview with Josh—he breaks down the complicated voucher system in a way that actually makes sense. His take on the religious impact, grounded in his own beliefs, is honest, respectful, and deeply compelling. A must-read for anyone who cares about public education.

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments

It’s common sense: taking away health care hurts families—and our communities There are more than 200,000 people relying on Medicaid or Medicaid Expansion in our mid-Michigan MI-07 district. Budgets are also statements about our values thehill.com/policy/healt...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Vouchers are a billionaire scheme to pay tuition for wealthy families—but are education’s predatory lending for the rest. All part of today’s disinvestment from schools, Medicaid, Social Security & more. I sat down with @nymag.com to discuss in this lengthy interview nymag.com/intelligence...

submitted 11 days ago • 7 comments

It’s common sense: taking away health care hurts families—and our communities There are more than 200,000 people relying on Medicaid or Medicaid Expansion in our mid-Michigan MI-07 district. Budgets are also statements about our values thehill.com/policy/healt...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Mid-Michigan folks: Come join me 5/15 at 6pm, hosted by the @midmichspartans.bsky.social Club “Restore, Renew, Rebuild: Investing in Education, Health Care, Jobs and Retirement in Michigan - and Beyond.” Free and open to all—sign up for tickets👇 www.eventbrite.com/e/mid-michig...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

The problem w/these studies—a mistake I made too back in 2013—is controlling for pre-voucher test scores doesn’t account for all attributes (e.g. ability to seek/apply to schools, social networks, persistence, family finances) that create both K12 voucher-use and post-K12 success

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

This piece @fastcompany.com makes a similar point on Head Start: gutting Medicaid, Medicaid Expansion, and Head Start will have huge implications for our community, whether you use them directly or not. www.fastcompany.com/91320429/how...

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

70% of K-12 voucher users were already in private school—vouchers are tuition forgiveness schemes for wealthy families. Billionaires Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump, and Linda McMahon want tuition payoffs for the rich, but want to keep middle class students in lifelong college debt

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

This piece @fastcompany.com makes a similar point on Head Start: gutting Medicaid, Medicaid Expansion, and Head Start will have huge implications for our community, whether you use them directly or not. www.fastcompany.com/91320429/how...

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

The math here is simple. Republicans have passed a budget framework where very large cuts to Medicaid will have to occur. Now, they are preemptively shifting the blame for those cuts to Governors, who cannot engage in deficit spending. All of this is for a regressive tax cut.

submitted 13 days ago • 52 comments

70% of K-12 voucher users were already in private school—vouchers are tuition forgiveness schemes for wealthy families. Billionaires Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump, and Linda McMahon want tuition payoffs for the rich, but want to keep middle class students in lifelong college debt

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

Good explainer~

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

I’m a Christian man. And I grew up in the same network of Catholic covenant communities as Justice Amy Coney Barrett. But the Supreme Court might all but allow religious public schools to begin operating and—like I told @hechingerreport.org —that’s wrong. hechingerreport.org/supreme-cour...

submitted 14 days ago • 3 comments

GOP threats to Medicaid may affect health care coverage for mid-Michigan families—and families all over the country—in several different ways👇 youtube.com/shorts/H_T_5...

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

I’m a Christian man. And I grew up in the same network of Catholic covenant communities as Justice Amy Coney Barrett. But the Supreme Court might all but allow religious public schools to begin operating and—like I told @hechingerreport.org —that’s wrong. hechingerreport.org/supreme-cour...

submitted 14 days ago • 3 comments

May the Lord bless him. And may his message of love for the poor, the dispossessed, and the vulnerable find new power today.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

It’s not an Easter hymn exactly, but one of my favorites, and full of new meaning these days. Come, labor on.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Happy Easter! The Risen Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, at a time when the testimony of women was often doubted. The proclamation of the Gospel often depends on unlikely witnesses to grace. A meditation on the Gospel for Easter Sunday. outreach.faith/2025/04/unli...

submitted 15 days ago • 4 comments

Cuts to Head Start aren’t an accident for Trump and the GOP Congress. They’re just following the Project 2025 playbook—forcing working families to manage child care and early education at home. www.vox.com/policy/40879...

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

The best headline I’ve seen for what just happened in Texas—and what’s about to happen in Congress to states like mine that have kept vouchers out. As I say here to @texasobserver.org these schemes are taxpayer giveaways to folks already in private school. www.texasobserver.org/abbott-trump...

submitted 18 days ago • 3 comments

Next up: a federal scheme to force vouchers into states like mine and Betsy DeVos’s. Vouchers are just K12’s version of what’s happening with the threats to Medicaid, Social Security, mass federal layoffs and more. They’re part of same story and the same billionaire playbook.

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

A brand new report by @americanprogress.bsky.social shows what’s at stake for families as Trump, Musk, and the GOP Congress slash Head Start. In our mid-Michigan district, more than $24 million at risk. Our congressman does nothing. What about yours? 👇 www.americanprogress.org/article/5-th...

submitted 19 days ago • 1 comment

Trump budget would slash HHS by 1/3, including fully eliminating ❌all of the agency’s chronic disease funding (eg heart disease and obesity) ❌ rural flexibility and at-risk rural program fund And ❌Head Start pre-K programs @washingtonpost www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments