Where Power Lives and Who It Leaves Out – Classnotes Podcast 249

Classnotes Podcast (August 4, 2025). In the first episode of this four-part series, IDRA Education Policy Fellows reflect on their hands-on advocacy during the 2025 legislative sessions in Texas and Georgia. They discuss what it was like to analyze bills, provide testimony and support coalitions – all while navigating systems of policymaking that often exclude impacted voices. Fellows explore what worked, what didn’t and what it means to be on the ground in spaces not built for them.

Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., Georgia Advocacy Director & Education Policy Fellows Coordinator, led the conversation with fellows: Vivek Datla, MPA, IDRA Education Policy Fellow – Regional, DeAndrea Byrd, IDRA Education Policy Fellow – Georgia, Isabelle Philip, IDRA Education Policy Fellow – Policy Communications, and Kaci Wright, M.Ed., IDRA Education Policy Fellow – Texas.

The IDRA groundbreaking Education Policy Fellows Program is changing the landscape of state education advocacy by training advocates with a commitment to and experience with communities of color to influence state laws and lead a powerful network of impacted communities. The 2024-25 cycle of this program is being generously supported by the Trellis Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation.

Show length: 28:53 min.

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Resources

IDRA 2024-25 Fellows – Bios and writings. Plus profiles brochure

IDRA Education Policy Fellows Program

Policy Whiplash in Georgia – The 2025 Session Delivered Education Gains, Losses and Looming Threats, with Terrence Wilson, J.D., Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., Isabelle Philip & Makiah Lyons, J.D., IDRA Newsletter, June-July 2025

Legislature Dances the Texas Three-Step: Defund, Demonize, Privatize Public Education, with Vivek Datla, MPA, IDRA Newsletter, June-July 2025

Post-fellowship evaluation report of the program’s first cycle

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