The Education Show
Covering the edtech backlash in Lower Merion and other parts of the country
Descripción
The last time I got the chance to speak with AP data guru Sharon Lurye was a couple of years ago when she and others on the education team were finalists for a Pulitzer. These days, Lurye is hard at work on both data-driven stories like last week’s massive piece on the Education Scorecard and field-based stories like her coverage of the debate in Lower Merion, Pa. about whether schools should roll back some of the reliance on edtech and whether parents should be able to keep their right to opt out [https://apnews.com/article/edtech-philly-classroom-technology-computer-phone-screens-6aab2bac1d66df1863509b5d5c74fe12]. In this new conversation, Lurye talks about the national importance of the edtech story, its origins as part of the school cellphone ban movement, the importance of in-person reporting — especially when opinions are divided and emotions are high — the value and limitations of AI tools for reporting, and her generally positive experience pitching and appearing in a camera-facing social video [https://x.com/AP/status/2055025277416190391?s=20] in support of the story. Despite a bit of technical difficulties about halfway through, Lurye shared an enormous amount of information about covering a difficult topic. Watch the interview or read the transcript above or on YouTube [http://youtube.com/@thegrade7706/videos]. Listen to the conversation on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1JwQiPIHlxf0LQdaLr4CYv] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-education-show/id1858272151]. Some interview highlights: “It’s not necessarily [that] 600 parents are going to opt out, but they want to at least have the right to do so.” “To be fair to the school system, they’ve already started changing things and they are in the midst of trying to rewrite its technology policies..” “If it was just one school district locally in Pennsylvania, that probably wouldn’t be something our team would cover.... But I really did think that it was representative of something that we’re seeing nationwide. And so that’s why I was interested in it.” “The great thing that I got when I was there in person was that even though there were over 100 parents there that were like overwhelmingly on kind of one side of the issue, I also got the other side of the issue because there were two high school students, Mia and Elliot, who showed up who said, look, this anti-tech backlash has already had an impact on us and an unintended consequences…” “It’s my favorite thing is to be out there in person, especially when I get to interview students. That’s my favorite thing about the job. And I set it as a personal goal for myself that I try and do that once a quarter — an actual in-person story.” “I am working on tools for the AP that help to where we’re using AI to help cover school board meetings and things like that…. But still being there in person was important… For this one, even with those tools, it’s still better if you’re there in person if you can be. And it’s also important because it helps you build the sources.” “I wanted to kind of push myself to try to learn more about social video because again, I’m usually the one kind of just not on camera. I’m the one with dealing with the spreadsheets, not the one in the spotlight. But I realized that’s where a lot of people get their news. So I made it a goal at the beginning of the year that I would like try to do this. And at first, that was a little bit nervous. But it was good. It turned out to not be too difficult. I only had to take about like five minutes of footage total, because it’s only a minute long video.” “I pitched [the social media clip] because I figured like, you know, I figured the meeting might get dramatic… I figured this would be good for social video because I would be there on the scene. There was a specific event happening where I could say ‘I’m here in front of Lower Merion School District.’ It doesn’t make sense to do it for every story, but something where it’s either something that needs to be explained or something where you can be there.” “Honestly, I have to say, even though there was some tension at this meeting, I felt like the people on all sides agreed on like 95 % of stuff. Like they basically agreed we should have like minimal screen time for the younger grades. And everybody agrees that you you still have to teach kids about technology… The disagreement was in that remaining 5% … I think there is a lot of room for agreement. Previously from The Grade How to cover ed tech hysteria [https://alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/how-to-avoid-ed-tech-hysteria?utm_source=publication-search] (featuring Holly Korbey) AI HYPE VS. CHROMEBOOK REMORSE: WHO WILL WIN? [https://alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/ai-hype-vs-chromebook-remorse-who?utm_source=publication-search] Pulitzer judges recognize deeply collaborative, human-centered education coverage [https://alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/6365111_ap-missing-kids-pulitzer?utm_source=publication-search] Thankful for education journalism: 2025 [https://alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/thankful-for-education-journalism?utm_source=publication-search] Get full access to Alexander Russo's The Grade at alexanderrusso.substack.com/subscribe [https://alexanderrusso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]
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