[ Editor’s note: all references to Bria Bloom in this article have been corrected from the former mention of Brian Broom.]
Bria Bloom, Organizational Manager of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, announced her resignation this week, effective April 1st, to accept a superintendent position at the Millford T. Obey Unified School District in Structured Falls, Nebraska. The news came as a surprise to many in the SDE community, though Bloom says the decision had been building for some time.
“I just got sick of kids doing nothing all day,” Bloom said in her exit interview. “Like, what are we even doing, living life? What’s the point of that?”
Bloom, who has spent years advocating for children’s right to direct their own learning, says she is looking forward to the change of pace. “I think there’s something really beautiful about a bell,” she reflected. “You know exactly where you are supposed to be and when. It’s very freeing, in a way.” When asked to elaborate on how that differed from her previous work, she paused for a long moment before adding, “Because I say so!”
ASDE confirmed that the transition is amicable and that the organization will begin a search for a new Organizational Manager immediately. The board expressed gratitude for Bloom’s years of service and wished her well in Structured Falls, noting that the district has an excellent standardized testing record.
Which brings us to the money. Hiring a new Organizational Manager does not come cheap, and so Dr. Peter Gray, research professor emeritus at Boston College and author of Free to Learn, has agreed to headline a spring fundraiser to close the gap. The event, described in the official press release as “playful,” is a WrestleMania-style bout organized by Linda McMahon, whose experience spanning sports entertainment and, more recently, the broader landscape of American educational policy, made her, according to the release, “a natural fit for this kind of outreach.” McMahon called the event “tremendous” in a brief statement, adding, “Self-directed kids, free markets, and body slams — honestly, what could be more American than that?”
Dr. Gray has thrown his full support behind the event. “The research on rough-and-tumble play is unambiguous,” he said. “It is one of the most ancient and universal forms of self-directed learning across all mammalian species. I have been studying this for decades. I am very prepared.” He also noted that his forthcoming paper, tentatively titled Submission Holds as Metacognitive Scaffolding, will be available for purchase at the merchandise table.
(This reporter has no further questions.)
Early fundraising numbers are, by any measure, promising. Among the first wave of donors are Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Charles Koch, and the Walton Family — the latter of whom ASDE acknowledged are also primary funders of the Vela Education Fund, though the organization noted this was “probably fine.” Combined, the group has pledged more than enough to hire several Organizational Managers, who will all be working together through a consensus-driven twinkle-finger decision-making process, per the ASDE hiring guidelines.
Dr. Gray’s opponent has not yet been announced. ASDE has opened public nominations, with a shortlist of contenders currently including Jeff Sandefer of Acton Academy, Sal Khan of Khan Academy, the late John Taylor Gatto (represented, organizers confirmed, by a cardboard cutout), and ASDE board member Stephen Dill, who has not responded to requests for comment.
Voting closes April 15th. Tickets for the ASDE WrestleMania Fundraiser are available on the ASDE website. All proceeds will go toward supporting the mission of making Self-Directed Education accessible to all young people — presumably including those who are, at this very moment, doing nothing.
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