3122 Heritage Trade Dr. Wake Forest, NC 27587
School Choice: A Vehicle for Constructive and Meaningful Citizenship
In this presentation, Professor Amy Wax will examine the debate on education to go beyond advocacy for school choice and how expanded school choice policies can produce desirable substantive reforms in K-12 educational practice. If values like respecting proper parental authority and discretion, promoting awareness and admiration for American and Western culture, preparing students for constructive and knowledgeable citizenship, and conveying an accurate sense of American history in world context, once again became priorities, as there were in the past, what would K-12 education look like? Professor Wax will address these issues in her keynote address.
Amy Wax’s work addresses issues in social welfare law and policy as well as the relationship of the family, the workplace, and labor markets. By bringing to bear her training in biomedical sciences and appellate practice as well as her interest in economic analysis, Wax has developed a uniquely insightful approach to problems in her areas of expertise.
Wax has published widely in law journals, addressing liberal theory and welfare work requirements as well as the economics of federal disability laws. Current works in progress include articles on same-sex marriage, disparate impact theory and group demographics, rational choice and family structure, and the law and neuroscience of deprivation.
Her most recent book is Race, Wrongs, and Remedies: Group Justice in the 21st Century (Hoover Institution Press/Rowman & Littlefield, 2009).
Wax has received the A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in an Introductory Course and the Harvey Levin Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence. As an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wax argued 15 cases before the United States Supreme Court.
In this presentation, Robert Luddy will present Thales Academy’s mission—to offer the highest quality education at the lowest possible price—and the real, practical steps that educational entrepreneurs can take to establish similar schools and educational institutions.
Robert "Bob" Luddy is the Founder and Chairman of Thales Academy, Thales College, Franklin Academy, and St. Thomas More Academy, and is the Founder and President of CaptiveAire Systems, North America's leading manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation equipment and a quickly growing manufacturer of commercial and industrial HVAC systems.
In this session, Luke Rosiak will examine incidents highlighting the dangers of gender ideology being promoted in elementary and secondary schools, often without parents' approval, knowledge, or consent.
Luke Rosiak is an investigative reporter for The Daily Wire who broke the story of Loudoun County’s bathroom rape coverup that caused parents across the country to question the cost of politics in schools and led to the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin in blue Virginia.
As a fellow with Peter Schweizer's Government Accountability Institute, he spent two years writing a book on the problems in K-12 schools called Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education. The Media Research Center named him Outstanding Investigative Journalist of 2021. Luke lives with his wife and children in Fairfax County, Virginia.
At the root of classical education is a noble challenge championed by master teachers throughout the Western heritage: teaching is the process of soul-craft—by which educators cultivate virtue within other human beings so that they might live good lives.
This challenge inherently elevates the role of teachers beyond mere transmitters of knowledge to shapers of innate potential— people with the power and influence to build up or undermine the lives and willpower of students. In this presentation, Mr. Palmer will explore the tragic landscape of contemporary American education, explicate the nuances of soul-craft in theory and practice, and reveal why soul-craft possesses ultimate significance for human flourishing.
Zach Palmer received a B.A. in History from Hillsdale College and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction: History from Liberty University. Mr. Palmer teaches American History, Western Civilization, and Civics.
What is the telos of education? In a free society, is it desirable or practical to attempt to design a single system of schooling that is ideal for everyone? Can schools hold a neutral position regarding morality and values, or is education a fundamentally ethical enterprise that inevitably adopts a new moral framework when an old one is removed? In this presentation, Patrick Halbrook will consider these questions historically and as they apply to American education in the twenty-first century.
Patrick Halbrook is a teacher, graphic designer, and writer—as well as a passionate advocate for classical Christian education. He has worked at Cary Christian School since 2006, teaching a wide variety of courses in history, theology, and rhetoric.
He is currently the director of Cary Christian's senior thesis project. Over the years he has written for various publications including The Imaginative Conservative, FORMA Journal, The Classical Difference, and Cary Christian School’s blog, The Forum. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal and Biblical Studies from Florida College and a Masters of Art in History from North Carolina State University.
The current education system in the United States is increasingly misaligned with the needs of many Americans. This paper explores the shortcomings of our “federalist” approach to education, emphasizing how federal overreach and bureaucratic stagnation have hindered progress and outcomes. While federal involvement was intended to promote equity and accountability, it has often devolved into inflexible mandates and uniform policies that erode local autonomy and fail to address the unique needs of communities. These dynamics not only limit the ability of families to govern themselves but also weaken the cultivation of moral character, which is vital for personal and societal growth.
Ray Nothstine is a Future of Freedom Fellow and senior editor and writer for State Policy Network, where he primarily helps to shepherd the American Habits publication. He previously worked as opinion editor at Carolina Journal and as a Second Amendment research fellow at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Nothstine graduated with a Master of Divinity (M.Div) degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He also holds a B.A. in political science from The University of Mississippi in Oxford. He currently lives in North Carolina with his wife and three sons.
Clifford Humphrey will examine reforms to higher education in the state of Florida. During his time as Executive Vice Chancellor of the Florida College system, Dr. Humphrey has implemented and overseen policies that have removed dangerous progressive influences in Florida's colleges and universities. In this way, the people of Florida can express their desire for sound, high-quality, and affordable education through their legislature and governor.
In turn, these elected officials have established moral and academic parameters in their higher education system over and against the higher ed establishment and its interests and massive influence.”
Clifford Humphrey holds a doctorate in political science from the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. He is a 2024 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow.
In this presentation, Winston Brady will present an overview of the liberal arts, which, in Latin, refer to seven “ways” of approaching education that “set one free” and prepare a citizen for a life of freedom. The second half will focus on three key individuals—Horace Mann (1796-1859), John Dewey (1859-1952), and Paulo Freire (1921-1997)—all of whom contributed to the slow, lamentable decline in sound education, classical learning, and wisdom, and the sad but not-unfixable state of American education today.
Winston Brady is the Director of Curriculum & Thales Press, an in-house publishing firm that produces textbooks, readings, and videos for Thales Academy and like-minded classical schools. He lives in Wake Forest with his wife and children.
