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Common Sense Goes to Washington…

  • February 14, 2023
Just a few of the participants, from left to right Cory Steiner, Steve Perry, Cris Gulacy-Worrel, Jerry Farley, Brian Curcio, Pat Brantley

Love was in the air even before Valentine’s Day, when Yass Prize awardees and alumni reunited in Washington DC for two jam-packed days to fill the hearts and minds of members of Congress, Governors and their teams with their views on what it takes to foster an environment of innovation, opportunity and success for the nation’s students.  

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) – sporting a Chiefs jersey! – along with the senior staffers from the offices of Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Congressman John Larson (D-CT1) and many others listened intently as the top education innovators spoke about their experiences, the barriers that Congress could alleviate and the successes they could amplify.

“We have parents donating plasma and working the night shift just to afford tuition,” said SOAR Academy’s Kenisha Skaggs of Augusta, GA, and a 2022 Yass Prize finalist.

“I could say I’m a drop out but I say I’m a take out because I was taken out of my home by escorts that were hired because I was a really bad kid. I was kicked out of schools,” said Oakmont winner and VP Cris-Gullacy Worrel whose schools excel at serving precisely students like her. “I remember thinking…I don’t want this to happen to other kids.”

Senators Cassidy and Marshall

“Tell your story, tell your story, and then tell your story again. Keep telling your story. Hug a kid today, tomorrow and make a difference one kid at a time. And be that word of encouragement.” said Chief’s Fan Senator Marshall. Cassidy, the Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee added, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. There is opportunity for bipartisanship and we will make something happen in this Congress.”

“What is exciting about this group and what you all do, is our members are very interested in the all-of-the-above approach. We want reform and change, whether it be private school choice, public charters, traditional public schools that are reforming, magnet schools – you name it.” – Brad Thomas, Senior Advisor, House Education and Workforce Committee
Meeting with Governor Kevin Stitt (OK)

The real laboratory of Democracy. The finalists then proceeded to spend their next two days engaging with some of the Nation’s Governors who were in town for their first convening since being sworn into office.  These chief executives were highly receptive to the message of allowing and supporting multiple approaches to educating kids, especially Iowa’s Kim Reynolds, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Tennessee’s Bill Lee and Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s chief of staff, among others.

Governor Kim Reynolds (IA)

You Oughta Be in Pictures. To magnify their impact, seven members of the 2022 Yass Prize cohort went “in Piazza,” with Jeanne Allen to explore their efforts and reach more people with the important message that education entrepreneurs are alive and well – if we could just stay out of their way, empower families to find them and motivate policymakers to ensure the environments exist for them to do all of the above.

Education 10.0 takes the audience through the power of high tech driven financial literacy, microschooling and what innovative districts look like while the Phoenix Effect draws from the experiences of four individuals whose own rise from difficult circumstances compelled them to create their own personalized pathways for students with varied approaches.

You’ll want to watch them on YouTube here and subscribe to In Piazza wherever you get your podcasts

IMG_4729 (1)

“What I have learned through this whole process is that there are these beautiful people that have put their whole heart and soul into helping kids,” said Cory Steiner, Superintendent of the Northern Cass School District in North Dakota.  “It’s all about what we can do to use our collective powers to try and do better for kids.”  

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The Yass Foundation advances the four core STOP principles: Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless education. Each year, the Foundation will reward dozens of organizations, building a growing network of innovative providers that
demonstrate these qualities in their commitment to new ideas, technologies, and approaches to learning that bring education into
the 21st century. The Foundation is powered by the Center for Education Reform (CER) in partnership with Forbes.

I'm deeply humbled and grateful to be part of this group.

The last month has been a tremendous experience and I'm so inspired and motivated by the amazing work this group is doing. Collectively, we’re working towards a real-world goal and it’s leaving me empowered and motivated to apply what we learn.

Jeffrey Imrich
Co-Founder,
Rock by Rock

Entrepreneurs are people who teach us about needs we don’t know we need.

This is the fundamental basis of what we are doing.

Carl Schramm
University Professor,
Syracuse University

Remember, you are doing the work of civilization.

You are planting the seeds of a better world, despite any bad news, you’re doing great things.

Steve Forbes
Editor-in-Chief,
Forbes Media

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy that’s behind the school system is more interested in perpetuating jobs and keeping the system in place, rather than giving children the freedom they deserve.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

If you get to the accelerator after the application process, go in knowing you already won.

The fact that you are now with a group of your peers you really get to see how world class the education profession is.

Christopher Simmonds
Principal,
CARE Elementary School

You are in a moment in history that we have never seen before.

Any of us with a disruptive idea have a shot at trying to prove something.

Randall Lane
Chief Content Officer,
Forbes Media

We see the Pulitzer prizes, we see the MacArthur Genius Grants, we see the Pritzker prize for architecture.

But for the one field that drives everything, education, there is no definitive prize. The Yass Prize has filled that vacuum -- it's more than just the money. It's about spurring ideas, it's about spurring innovation. We are very very proud to be a part of it.

Randall Lane
Editor,
Forbes

We may not agree on much of anything, but one thing that is a uniting force that we all agree on is that education opens doors, it’s the great equalizer.

Alyssa Farah Griffin
Co-Host on The View and CNN Political Commentator,

We often jump to the what, without thinking with the community about the why.

Michael B. Horn
Author,
From Reopen to Reinvent

What has been created here at the accelerator is truly incredible.

We may never know how pivotal this really is for education in America right here, right now. This group of people will work together to force real change permissionlessly.

Rob Blevins
Executive Director,
Discovery Center of Springfield

Success happens after many pivots and changes.

Michael Moe
Founder and CEO,
Global Silicon Valley

I hope you all think about the fact that the impact you are having, you will never even know how widespread it is.

That’s the beauty of education, you impact lives in such a deep way.

Alyssa Farah Griffin
Co-Host on The View and CNN Political Commentator,

I am still processing the magnitude of this experience and so grateful for meeting each and everyone of you.

I look forward to continuing our transformative work in our communities and together.

Taylor Shead
Board Member,
Dallas Education Foundation

The fact that education has become partisan is upsetting, and I just hope that this award will encourage more states to view this as a bipartisan issue.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

The real source of wealth in society is the human mind, not material things, because with the human mind, great wealth can be created.

Steve Forbes
Editor-in-Chief,
Forbes Media

When you are trying to advance and think beyond the status quo, this can be a lonely place, because our systems are structured to do the same thing.

It is important to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who foster innovation.

Phyllis Lockett
CEO,
LEAP Innovations

What is good for families is good for the school because families want great schools.

Ceci Schickel
Senior Director of Organizing and Advocacy,
Mastery Charter School

The pandemic didn’t stop our families, scholars and educators from learning, growing and thriving.

Patricia Brantley
CEO,
Friendship Public Charter School

We realized long ago that there’s a lot of money in the system, and it’s just not directed to the children.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

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