S4E10 - A Table Talk on School Choice with Educator LaMonte Rothrock

Starting In 2027 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed in 2025) enables scholarships for private school tuition, tutoring, and transportation for families with incomes up to 300% of the area median income. Is this really a good idea?

In today’s podcast, Lamar and Tom talk with LaMonte Rothrock who has been an educator throughout his career. LaMonte began his teaching career as a music educator. His career’s journey led him down several paths. From music education he became a counselor and eventually an administrator. He worked in public schools and in a private prep school. In the later stages of his career he moved into college administration. At every step and turn, LaMonte learned what he needed to know to help students be successful.

In this Table Talk, we discuss whether the education provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill will actually help all students or whether it will mostly help those from families whose wealth and education level already give their students an advantage. States must opt in. What is your state doing? What would you like it to do?

Learn More

School Choice is Booming in Iowa: Are Students Better Off? https://www.npr.org/2026/04/19/nx-s1-5683199/education-school-choice-iowa-students-charter-school-cedar-rapids

Federal Program Will Bring Private School Choice to At Least 4 New States https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/federal-program-will-bring-private-school-choice-to-at-least-4-new-states/2026/01

School Vouchers Explained: What the New Federal Program Means https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/25/10/school-vouchers-explained-what-new-federal-program-means

U.S. school choice tax credit scholarship program https://ballotpedia.org/U.S._school_choice_tax_credit_scholarship_program

A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness

Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5

There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:

• What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

• What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.

Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.

How We Check Ourselves

• Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/
• FactCheck.org - https://www.factcheck.org/
• Politifact - https://www.politifact.com/
• RealClearPolitics - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/
• Reuters FactCheck - https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:

• Media Bias/Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
• All Sides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news
• Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart - https://app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/interactive

Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions.

Credits:

Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus

Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI

Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc.

Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/

Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com.

No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.

Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, May 12, 2026