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Gary Houchens

Bowling Green, KY

I am a former teacher, principal, and district administrator now serving as Professor of Educational Administration in the School of Leadership and Professional Studies at Western Kentucky University and director of the WKU Educational Leadership Doctoral program (Ed.D.). I am active in Kentucky education reform efforts. From 2016-2019 I was a member of the Kentucky Board of Education.

Recent Activity

Introducing "Schools, Souls, and Civitas"

Today I’m pleased to launch Schools, Souls, and Civitas, my new Substack. This will be a place to collect and share my writing from various platforms and publications and to provide original content at the intersection of my favorite topics: education, leadership, faith, culture, and public policy. Substack’s newsletter subscription... Continue reading

Posted Dec 19, 2024 at School Leader

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The fight for school choice in Kentucky will go on

Amendment 2, Kentucky's school choice constitutional ballot initiative, was soundly defeated during yesterday's election. Despite our best efforts, proponents of the amendment could not overcome the millions of dollars spent by teachers unions, or the prevarication machine of public school superintendents, that swayed public opinion. But while I am disappointed,... Continue reading

Posted Nov 6, 2024 at School Leader

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Resources for Yes on 2, KY's school choice ballot initiative

On November 5, Kentuckians will have the chance to amend the state's constitition allowing the legislature to consider the kinds of school choice programs that are benefitting millions of students - and not harming public schools - in 48 other states. I've been writing and speaking on this topic and... Continue reading

Posted Oct 20, 2024 at School Leader

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School choice amendment does not change how Kentucky schools are funded

Amendment 2, coming up on the November ballot, asks voters to change the state constitution clarifying that lawmakers may, at some point in the future, pass legislation providing support for eligible families to access new educational opportunities. This is a response to a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that prohibits any... Continue reading

Posted Oct 20, 2024 at School Leader

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Superintendents make debunked arguments against school choice amendment

In my latest column for the Bowling Green Daily News, I take on recent arguments made by area superintendents against Kentucky's upcoming school choice ballot initiative: Public school superintendents – who are smart enough to know better – continue to make debunked claims against Kentucky’s upcoming school choice constitutional amendment.... Continue reading

Posted Sep 28, 2024 at School Leader

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A reckoning is coming for higher education

In a recent column for the Bowling Green Daily News, I discussed a Gallup survey that shows public confidence in higher education is cratering. Only a third of respondents they had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in colleges and universities, down from 57% in 2015. I... Continue reading

Posted Sep 27, 2024 at School Leader

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School choice opponents are confused or trying to confuse voters

In a recent op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader, I took on the habit of Kentucky's school choice opponents to pretend the upcoming Amendment 2 ballot initiative is a "voucher" plan. In fact, Amendment 2 does not create a program at all, but simply asks voters to change the state constitution... Continue reading

Posted Sep 27, 2024 at School Leader

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Postliberalism in Western Kentucky

I was honored to recently be featured as a guest on the American Postliberal podcast. The American Postliberal was launched in 2023 by a group of young Catholic intellectuals who are seeking to help articulate a vision of Catholic realism to guide Americans in this unique political and cultural moment.... Continue reading

Posted Jul 8, 2024 at School Leader

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Biden wants to impose radical gender views on Kentucky schools

In my last column for the Bowling Green Daily News, I discussed the Biden administration's attempt to rewrite the federal Title IX law in a way none of the original authors of that legislation ever imagined: that "sex" is whatever gender identity a person claims to be. This means schools... Continue reading

Posted Jul 8, 2024 at School Leader

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10 Commandements laws are about education, not evangelization

In an op-ed for Kentucky Today, I defended Louisiana's new law mandating the display of the 10 Commandments in classrooms in K12 schools and public universities: Making sure every student is aware of the Ten Commandments is not an attempt to indoctrinate them into a specific religious belief. As evangelism,... Continue reading

Posted Jun 30, 2024 at School Leader

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Enemies of school choice need better slogans

In my latest op-ed for the Bowling Green Daily News, I took on the slogan being used by opponents of this year's school choice constitutional amenment that "public dollars are for public schools." This argument fails to convince on multip fronts: Kentuckians’ ballots this November will have more than just... Continue reading

Posted Jun 13, 2024 at School Leader

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Tough talk for today's graduates

In my most recent commentary for the Bowling Green Daily News, I offered some unsolicited advice to recent college graduates. While we should celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates, the predictable, upbeat messages of encouragement we often hear during graduation season aren’t sufficient. It’s time for students to hear some... Continue reading

Posted May 15, 2024 at School Leader

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Campus threats to free speech

The Bowling Green Daily News has asked me to start regularly contributing a op-ed on various public policy issues of state and local interest. My first offering was this recent piece about the visit of Kyle Rittenhouse to Western Kentucky University's campus, which I considered a triumph for free speech.... Continue reading

Posted May 14, 2024 at School Leader

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Unpacking 7 Myths About Education

Over the years, there have been a handful of books about education I find myself recommending over and over, like E.D. Hirsch's Knowledge Matters and David Didau's What If Everything You Knew About Education Was Wrong. A third at the top of my list is Daisy Christodoulou's 2014 book, Seven... Continue reading

Posted Mar 25, 2024 at School Leader

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What research really says about school choice

The opponents of school choice are just getting started as they rev up to convince voters to oppose a constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers the opportunity to establish policies that assist families in accessing non-public school education options. A recent op-ed in the Louisville Courier Journal shows the lengths... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2024 at School Leader

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Toward a conservative vision of education

Earlier this week I was honored to join some of America's most prominent conservative education reformers in Phoenix, Arizona at the invitation of the Heritage Foundation. The Conservative Vision of Education conference featured leaders in K-12 and higher education, policy experts, and advocates. I attended in my role as policy... Continue reading

Posted Mar 22, 2024 at School Leader

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It's time for Kentucky to elect the state board of education

Serving on the Kentucky Board of Education from 2016-2019 was one of the greatest honors of my professional life. But it was emotionally brutal work, especially when it came to a legally dubious end when Gov. Andy Beshear, on his first day in office, fulfilled a frequent campaign promise and... Continue reading

Posted Jan 15, 2024 at School Leader

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Educating for Wisdom

Late last year the Imaginative Conservative published my review of David M. Steiner's recent book, A Nation at Thought: Restoring Wisdom in America's Schools. I argued that even though Steiner makes an excellent case for an education system based on classical purposes, I am skeptical that such an approach can... Continue reading

Posted Jan 14, 2024 at School Leader

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Conservatives, Liberals, and the Purpose of Education

Yesterday I posted about my recent speech "A Conservative Reclamation of Education." At least part of that talk was inspired by my reading of Yoram Hazony's 2022 book, Conservatism: A Rediscovery. I wrote about this book for the website Imaginative Conservative back in March 2023. An excerpt: Of course, an... Continue reading

Posted Jan 13, 2024 at School Leader

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The Conservative Reclamation of Education

I was recently invited to speak to the Northern Kentucky Tea Party on Kentucky's proposed school choice constitutional amendment. My friend and colleague Dr. Thomas Davis, president of Commonwealth Educational Opportunities (where I serve as a policy advisor), gave an update on the current legislative landscape, and then I situated... Continue reading

Posted Jan 12, 2024 at School Leader

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Here comes Kentucky's school choice constitutional amendment

Update, 3/13/2024: The Kentucky General Assembly approved HB 2 in modified form. It will now go to the voters as a ballot initiative in the November election. Many thanks to the hardworking lawmakers who made this possible. Update, 1/27/2024: A second bill proposing a school choice constitutional amendment has been... Continue reading

Posted Jan 11, 2024 at School Leader

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On Differentiation, Direct Instruction, and More: A Decade Later

Recently I was contacted by a teacher who had come across a now-decade old blog post I wrote about education author Mike Schmoker and his (hostile) take on differentiated instruction. I argued that, as much as I admired Schmoker's work, I thought he was making a bit of a straw... Continue reading

Posted Nov 14, 2023 at School Leader

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Aqueducts, Improvement Science, and Leadership

In February this year I became director of the Educational Leadership doctoral program at Western Kentucky University, which forms practicing and aspiring leaders in K-12 schools, higher education, and related fields. One of my immediate goals was to redesign the WKU Ed.D. around the principles and processes of "Improvement Science."... Continue reading

Posted Aug 25, 2023 at School Leader

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CRT prevents real progress on closing achievement gaps

This essay was originally published on the website The Chalkboard Review on April 26, 2021. Sometime in 2022 the website was purchased by new owners who, without notifying me, removed all of my published essays. Given that the website operator has failed to respond to my inquiries about this removal,... Continue reading

Posted Jul 29, 2023 at School Leader

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Living Not By Lies in Education

This essay was originally published on the website The Chalkboard Review on March 19, 2021. Sometime in 2022 the website was purchased by new owners who, without notifying me, removed all of my published essays. Given that the website operator has failed to respond to my inquiries about this removal,... Continue reading

Posted Feb 16, 2023 at School Leader

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