Dirt Road Democrat

The Heartland Collective

Jess Piper is the lightning rod, the shield, and the sword for those who simply need the know that their voice is not alone, but part of a broad and growing network of folks who see the same thing. Decades of failed "Red State" policies leaving generations behind as schools, jobs, and healthcare abandon poor areas. Born in rural Arkansas, Jess's own experience shape her politics. After an upbringing in a check to check household with the Church at the center, Jess made her way through college eventually becoming an english teacher. Now, Jess, a mother and grandmother, makes her home on a small farm in one of the most rural areas of northern Missouri. After more than 16 years in the classroom, Jess jumped into politics feet first with a run for office in a heavily tilted district where Jess's candidacy was the first by a Democrat in a generation. Jess has deep roots in the dirt roads of America and her politics, the creation of her experiences, serve now as a megaphone for the disaffected many who feel like they stand alone in a sea of disparate and extreme policies. Join Jess as she travels the dirt roads of American politics and helps us find the connection of the urban/rural existence of food deserts, attacks on public education, and policies that impact those with the least - regardless of their zip codes. read less
GovernoGoverno

Episódios

Rural Organizing with Rep. Aftyn Behn of Tennessee's State House
11-01-2024
Rural Organizing with Rep. Aftyn Behn of Tennessee's State House
Bio: Representative Aftyn Behn is the newest member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving House District 51, where she is the first female representative in over 50 years. She is the youngest serving woman in the Tennessee House and the only woman representing Nashville. She's currently the Campaign Director for RuralOrganizing.org, overseeing the organization's electoral strategy and execution and shaping the political and policy landscape impacting small towns and rural communities. Previously, she worked at the Indivisible Project as the Distributed Organizing Manager, building out national programs, including Indivisible's national rural program, one of the largest in the country. She also supported Indivisible's distributed network in long-term power building as the former senior regional organizer for Kentucky and Tennessee. Before Indivisible, she organized with the Tennessee Justice Center in 2017 during the national Medicaid and Affordable Care Act congressional fights. In 2016, she consulted with Switzerland's United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), developing community-based protection policies for special-interest refugee groups. Aftyn is from East Tennessee and received her MSW from the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work, specializing in public policy. Twitter:@aftynbehn Jess Piper is @piper4missouri@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threadshttps://heartlandpod.com/JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”
Carol C. Burris, Education Policy Expert
09-11-2023
Carol C. Burris, Education Policy Expert
Carol's Blog: https://roundtheinkwell.com/Jess Piper is @piper4missouri@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threadshttps://heartlandpod.com/JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation” Network for Public EducationCarol Corbett Burris became Executive Director of the Network for Public Education Foundation in August 2015, after serving as principal of South Side High School in the Rockville Centre School District in NY since 2000.  Prior to becoming a principal, she was a teacher at both the middle and high school level.  She received her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her dissertation, which studied her district’s detracking reform in math, received the 2003 National Association of Secondary Schools’ Principals Middle Level Dissertation of the Year Award.  In 2010, she was named Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, and in 2013, she was named SAANYS New York State High School Principal of the Year.  Dr. Burris co-authored Detracking for Excellence and Equity (2008) and Opening the Common Core: How to Bring ALL Students to College and Career Readiness (2012), and authored On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the 21st Century Struggle against Re-segregation (2014). Her articles have appeared in Educational Leadership, Kappan, American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Theory into Practice, School Administrator, American School Board Journal and Education Week. She regularly expresses her concerns about the misuse and unintended consequences of high-stakes testing in the Washington Post, The Answer Sheet blog.E-mail Carol Burris at: burriscarol@gmail.com Jess Piper is @piper4missouri@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threadshttps://heartlandpod.com/JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”