Andy Jacob

Lead external relations @bellwetherorg. Husband, twin dad, @PPSConnect parent, @NBA junkie. Working to build stronger public schools. Past: @TNTP, @NYCSchools.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

Wow, basketball is really fun when you play the last 20 seconds in 20 seconds instead of 10 minutes, who knew? Maybe the world's premier basketball league should consider some rule changes to make that happen more often -- just an idea, no worries if not @NBA.

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

OMG KENTUCKY

THIS IS MARCH 🤯🤯🤯

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

Somehow people are still way underestimating the extent to which voters value "answers a question directly and sounds like they believe it" more than any particular policy position.

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

KRISTEN WELKER: If Democrats win the midterms do you want to see Leader Jeffries become the speaker of the House?

MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Yes.

KRISTEN WELKER: Okay. That was a firm, quick answer.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@j_vzqz @WorldWideWob The only thing missing now that they did that is using the shorter version with the secondary chorus and timing it so the matchup comes right after the crescendo (ala this: https://t.co/gQsaPCi1QU )

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@AaronLevine_ @Jeopardy @KOMO4 This is a long time coming, congrats!

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@JonesOnTheNBA I really need them to incorporate this the right way at the top of the broadcast tonight, though. I realize we aren't getting Costas-style narrative intros anymore but at least need "This is the NBA on NBC" and the announcement of the matchup timed properly to the music.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

This is sad on many levels, not least because focusing on raising reading and math scores to the degree Louisiana and Mississippi have would be a very popular thing for any Democratic gubernatorial candidate to run on.

[Dale Chu @Dale_Chu]

WATCH: Louisiana and Mississippi aren’t the punchlines they used to be.

They’ve led the nation in reading gains in recent years.

If you’re mocking them in 2025, you haven’t been paying attention.

cc: @MikieSherrill @Jack4NJ

[John Arnold @johnarnold]

The peak of the ed reform movement by policymakers, philanthropists and advocates occurred from 2009-14. Much of that attention has since shifted to career pathways. That holds much promise, but if we keep turning away from the 100,000 public schools, these trends will continue.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@seanrobertgill This and the CNN theme from that year are still stuck in my head because of all the recount coverage I watched.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

This is the only acceptable presentation of this national treasure and I would rather not hear it at all than see NBC use it so lazily. I feel more strongly about this than any ed policy position I hold FYI.

[Sports TV News & Updates @TVSportsUpdates]

A fuller version of Roundball Rock in the intro for tonight's Peacock NBA preseason game.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

See, e.g., Oregon: https://t.co/VMqao5bo4P

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

I will say for the 492,593rd time: no right-wing policies are hurting public education as much as the people in public education trying to help by advertising they aren't especially interested in how much kids are learning in school.

[Fairfax County Parents Association @FFXParentsAssoc]

"We're defining success in a way that reflects our community values..not someone else's"

Dr. Reid unveils the Future Readiness Index, an effort to push back on new state accountability standards w a counter narrative that will allow FCPS to rely on various academic & non-academic metrics (such as degree of belonging & community involvement) to represent that FCPS is doing terrifically, no matter what the state standards say.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

https://t.co/xU0LdhQwfG

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

Hot take: I think Oregon schools should be doing better than a trajectory of taking 30 (or maybe infinity?) years to catch kids up to pre-pandemic achievement levels — even with the resources we currently have. That and some other reflections on the latest test scores below. 👇

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

There are legit pros and cons to starting gifted programs in kindergarten. More interesting/telling to me is why this is even the conversation by him or any candidate when nearly half of NYC students aren't on grade level in reading and math. Way bigger fish to fry.

[Emma G. Fitzsimmons @emmagf]

Mamdani Says He Would Phase Out N.Y.C. Gifted Program: https://t.co/Tvwn6aaBfG

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

The thing that throws vulnerable people under the bus is Democrats losing the power they need to protect them by running losing campaigns. Anyone who doesn't care first and foremost about electoral results doesn't actually care about protecting people.

[Adam Jentleson @AJentleson]

On this website, anytime you suggest that Dems should mount a heterodox appeal that combines economic populism with right-leaning stances on cultural issues, you get a bunch of people saying “who are you going to throw under the bus??” Yet a lot of those same people then back candidates like Dan Osborn who (correctly, imo) combine economic populism with right-leaning cultural stances.

The purity-test pretext is a scam — “I will never compromise” yields clicks and donations for individual candidates and clout-chasers on here, but obfuscates on the important question of where the party needs to go. It would be better if everyone was just open and honest about how this is a winning formula in the red states Dems need to win to be competitive in the Senate and not continue to steadily lose ground in the electoral college.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

It is a lovely fall day here in our "crime-ridden war zone."

[Ron Wyden @RonWyden]

Taken just a few minutes ago outside the ICE facility in Portland that Trump claims is under siege. My message to Donald Trump is this: we don’t need you here. Stay the hell out of our city.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@jlrizzoii Except the results were getting consistently better, especially for the lowest-achieving kids, for 20 years prior to the mid-2010s. So something was working better than it is now.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

You can make a strong argument that we're in this mess largely because we already did "return education to the states." Wild that even after years of these dismal results, no major leaders from either party are willing to just demand a renewed focus on teaching and learning.

[Secretary Linda McMahon @EDSecMcMahon]

Today, we learned that in 2024, nearly 80% of high school seniors were not proficient in math and nearly two-thirds of them were not proficient in reading. That is unacceptable. 

We can no longer go along with the status quo. It’s time to return education to the states.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@SoritesMinor We had an era of federally-mandated focus on teaching and learning which, for all its imperfections, coincided with consistent gains, especially for the neediest kids. Then in 2015 (ESSA) we went back to basically letting states do what they want, and the progress stopped.

[Andy Jacob @andyjacob]

@jordan_pape Most kids attend public schools even in states with universal ESAs. I think the most important thing we can do to help the most kids academically is to make public schools better at teaching them stuff (which we were doing quite consistently for ~20 years pre-2015!).