The Phoenix Principles

“Everyone knows about the crisis in American education. Some people, mostly for ideological reasons, want to pretend it doesn’t exist. Many people acknowledge the problem and its gravity, but don’t know what can be done about it. The authors of The Phoenix Principles have taken the trouble to study the crisis, think carefully about it, and offer concrete ideas for how we as a nation can address it. They point the way to reform and revitalization.”

—Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

“The Phoenix Principles ignites fresh hope for American education by reclaiming and revitalizing its timeless purpose in a free society. In Florida, these principles have fueled a transformation which has made our state a national leader. Drawing on the insights of the past, this volume charts a clear path forward centered on academic excellence, parental rights, and character formation. This book doesn’t just join the national conversation; it challenges parents, educators, and policymakers to recommit to a vision of what education can be.”

—Anastasios Kamoutsas, Florida Commissioner of Education

“The appearance of The Phoenix Principles is a landmark event in the process of educational renewal that is already alive and well in our land, but which now appears ready to surge ahead into a position of transformative leadership and leave our broken and listless educational establishment behind. This book illuminates the path that the coming renewal will need to follow, if its efforts are to produce deep and enduring changes. It comes at the right moment, a moment when more and more Americans understand that we cannot go on as we have and are ready to embrace dramatic change.”

—Wilfred McClay, Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization and Professor of History, Hillsdale College

Jason Bedrick

Jason Bedrick is a senior research fellow at the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. He is the coeditor and coauthor of two books, including Educational Freedom: Remembering Andrew Coulson, Debating His Ideas and Religious Liberty and Education: A Case Study of Yeshivas vs. New York. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox News, Politico, National Review, National Affairs, the Journal of School Choice, and Education Next, among many other publications.

Bedrick previously served as a legislator in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Education Freedom, and as director of policy at EdChoice. He received his master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government. Bedrick resides in Phoenix with his wife and six children.

James V. Shuls

James V. Shuls is the head of the Education Liberty branch of the Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University. A nationally recognized scholar on education policy, his work focuses on school choice, education finance, and the philosophical foundations of education policy.

Shuls has published in leading academic journals such as Educational Researcher, Journal of Education Finance, and Social Science Quarterly, and his commentary has appeared in outlets including National Review and RealClearEducation. He is the coeditor, with Neal McCluskey, of Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining America’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement, a volume exploring the historical and philosophical roots of educational freedom.

Prior to his role at Florida State, he served as department chair of Educator Preparation and Leadership at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and as dean of the College of Education at Southeastern University. A former public school teacher, Shuls taught 1st and 5th grades in southwest Missouri.

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