“Leo could well end up being the pope who makes it clear that the reason Catholic doctrine does not fit well into American politics is that it makes heavier demands than partisans on either side are willing to bear.” nytimes.com/2025/05/12/opi…

“A good therapist would not encourage a client to make sense of difficulties by encouraging them to believe they have supernatural powers. Instead, they steer away from unhealthy narratives toward healthier ones. ChatGPT has no such constraints or concerns rollingstone.com/culture/cultur…

“The gaps are different at the extremes: "NWEA found that the math gender gap was more pronounced for higher performing students, with boys scoring much higher than girls on average. Among the lowest performing students, girls did better than boys in both reading and math."

“How do you make sure moments like these become not just a flame but an accelerant to something broader?” — Kathleen Porter-Magee New article by Anthony Faiola & Michelle Boorstein on what Pope Leo can do for the US Catholic Church

So I predicted this one wrong. Supreme Court splits 4-4 on St. Isidore, the potential OK religious charter school.

This is BIG news--a 4-4 split (with a Justice Barrett recusal) means that the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision to deny a charter to St. Isidore of Seville.

Woah! ECCA passed the House, too. Big day

Pope Leo XIV is bringing fresh energy to a divided Church. In the Washington Post, our Managing Partner Kathleen Porter Magee shares why this moment “feels different” — and how leadership can turn momentum into lasting change. wapo.st/43eyVjG #popeleo #popeleoxiv

"A tied ruling now leaves unresolved the question of whether charter schools are state actors, as well as the matter of whether a state can require that charter schools be secular without violating the U.S. Constitution's religion clauses." ncronline.org/news/supreme-c…

K-12 Catholic schools have faced declining enrollment and financial challenges for years...the impending "demographic cliff" and overall declines in college-going rates now threatens Catholic Universities

"In this way many academics are conditioned to become respectful guardians of the disciplinary status quo, sometimes disguising this from themselves by an enthusiasm for interdisciplinary projects that present no threat to that status quo"

The U.S. bishops praised the inclusion of the ECCA but also noted some “important changes that need to be made” in parts of the House bill...the bishops called for the “removal of poison pill language that would debilitate Catholic school participation.” catholicnewsagency.com/news/264291/bi…

"AI raises questions that the Catholic Church has been thinking about for centuries: What does ethical action, personally and socially, look like? How can we foster our own humanity? What does it even mean to be a human being?" washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/…

“…if our faith calls us to exercise a preferential option for the poor, how do we live out that belief in the way we advocate for, and implement, school choice?” Beth Blaufuss americamagazine.org/politics-socie…

Pretty brutal juxtaposition of reading scores for Maryland and Mississippi, among students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. (Brutal for Maryland.) Via Emily Hanford at #EWA25

Look at that. h/t Marc Porter Magee 🎓

"Mr. Shenon’s criticism of the corruption in the church may be justified, but it must be weighed against the profound witness of 1.4 billion Catholics and their influence on the world." Peter Denio LeadershipRoundtable americamagazine.org/faith/2025/06/…

“Far too many people still think of ‘the church’ as the pope, the bishops and the ordained, without including the other 99 percent of Catholics. Until we think of the church as all baptized Catholics, we may never be able to escape Mr. Shenon’s scathing conclusion”