Stella & Sasha welcome former public defender and education advocate, Maud Maron to the show for a fascinating conversation examining the intersection of education and politics. Maud reflects on the troubling shifts within schools, where merit and academic standards are being overshadowed by ideological pressures.
Maud Maron is the founder and President of ThirdRail, an Ideas Consultancy that creates environments where ideas, not ideologies, work in service of strategy and organizational success.
Maud began her career as a public defender and later served as an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Yeshiva University. She also led Manhattan's largest School Board, advocating for merit-based admissions in NYC’s Specialized High Schools, and co-founded PLACE NYC, a parent-led education advocacy group. After running for Congress and City Council as a moderate Democrat, she became an Independent.
A seasoned political commentator, she regularly contributes to outlets like the NYPost and Newsweek and has appeared on major TV programs including Fox News and The Megyn Kelly Show.
In this episode, Maud discusses the evolving landscape of education, where traditional academic standards are increasingly being influenced or overshadowed by ideological pressures from social and political agendas. She highlights the impact of identity politics, gender ideology, and equity measures on core educational values.
Drawing from her personal experiences from pushing for enhanced math standards, to becoming embroiled in a heated debate over gender guidelines in New York City's public schools, Maud recounts the tactics used to silence her dissent.
Despite her efforts to initiate a respectful dialogue on the impact of gender policies–specifically for female athletes– Maud faced heckling and intimidation tactics that have broad implications for free speech in schools and elsewhere.
Maud tells the story in reference to these videos from a New York Community Education Council meeting about the passing of Resolution #248 requesting the establishment of a Gender Guidelines review committee comprised of “female athletes, parents, coaches, relevant medical professionals and evolutionary biology experts”.
Activists disrupted the meeting with persistent humming impeding productive and informative dialogue, effectively silencing supporters of the resolution’s passing. The approved requested review committee being protested would be “authorized to propose amendments, changes and additions to the Gender Guidelines which are the result of an inclusive, evidence-based process concerning the impact on female athletes when the category of sex is replaced by gender identity.”
This episode offers invaluable insights for parents, educators, political followers, free speech advocates, and those curious about how the politicization of education and ideological pressures are diluting the emphasis on academic performance, sparking concerns about the long-term impact on students' education and society at large.
Resources & Links
Explore more from Maud Maron: https://www.maudmaron.com/
@MaudMaron on X
ThirdRail, a consultancy that builds flourishing workplaces where ideas – not ideologies – inspire strategy
PlaceNYC (Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education)
FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism)
Will New York Stand Up for Girls?, by Maud Maron (City Journal)
Radicalized sex-ed: A telling tale of how NYC educrats shut out parents, even on Community Education Councils, by Maud Maron (The New York Post)
Check out Maud Maron’s recommendations:
Bad Therapy: Why The Kids Aren’t Growing Up
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters
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