It’s official! We are honored to announce that Liberated Learners has received a grant of $100,000 from Stand Together Trust to help people start centers using our approach in states offering public funding. We are grateful, excited, and eager to see what we can do with these resources.

In early 2023, I wrote that my goal for the year was to learn about public funding for self- directed learning, either through public school programs, alternative private schools, or homeschooling. Over the course of this year, I have shared the progress of my learning, including a keynote presentation at the AERO Conference in June and attending a conference on “microschools” at Harvard in September. I’ve read a number of books, listened to a wide range of podcasts, and spoken about the modern school choice movement with dozens of friends, colleagues, and experts. Our proposal to Stand Together Trust was the culmination of this year’s research: we would like to proactively target potential “Starters” in states with public funding, and see if our model might be more sustainable in those conditions. I am grateful for the faith in us shown by the decision makers at Stand Together Trust.

Now, we are looking at an exciting year for 2024. Here we come, New Hampshire, Florida, Arizona, Utah, West Virginia, and a few other “most likely” states to offer public funding for our model. Will such funding mean that more teams of teachers and parents can create financially sustainable programs? Will more families consider our approach when they have a solid head start in paying the fees for such a choice?

If you live in a state with public funding, and you know people interested in creating an innovative educational program premised on our model for self-directed learning, please be in touch. Our success will be measured in how many people we reach and support to open new programs. Thank you for joining us in this adventure.