Anand Sanwal

New York, United States

Founded @cbinsights. Montessori teacher in-training. Giving free $$ to middle/high school entrepreneurs w/ @formidablegrant https://t.co/vLLJLp6nlv

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Articles

The Problem With School Might Be… Parents » Anand Sanwal

2 weeks ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. Yesterday, at my cousin’s kids’ middle school, they had a Field Day—essentially outdoor activities and experiments. It started to rain. Some kids called their parents to report they were wet and needed new clothes or wanted to be picked up. A kerfuffle erupted in the parent WhatsApp group. Parents called the school irresponsible. Others complained about interrupted workdays to drop off dry clothes.
We Got Bamboozled by the Teach Kids to Code Hype » Anand Sanwal

3 weeks ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. In the last decade, a new mantra hypnotized American schools: “Every child should learn to code.” The President said it. Governors echoed it. Tech CEOs funded it—directly or via nonprofits they controlled. The pitch was surgical. It wasn’t just about skills. It was about the future. About equity. About national competitiveness.
The Student-Teacher Ratio Scam » Anand Sanwal

1 month ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. There’s a lie being told to parents about what makes schools great. It’s so pervasive that even smart people believe it. That lie is that student-teacher ratios are important. This longstanding ratio fixation isn’t just wrong—it’s been actively harmful.
We Say Teaching Matters. Then We Treat It Like a Service Job. » Anand Sanwal

1 month ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. We say teachers shape the future, then pay them like baristas. This isn’t hypocrisy—it’s an accurate market signal about what we’ve let teaching become.
Another Initiative. Another Illusion. » Anand Sanwal

1 month ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. Why AI in schools, as currently imagined, won’t fix what’s broken. This month’s executive order to bring AI into K–12 education sounds exciting and bold. A national task force. A presidential challenge. Public-private partnerships. Federal dollars. Teacher training. Early exposure. It checks all the boxes. Except the ones that matter. Because for most schools, this won’t be a revolution.
Productive Struggle » Anand Sanwal

2 months ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. The problem isn’t that school is too hard. It’s that it’s hard in all the wrong ways. We confuse rigor with worksheets. We make students memorize, cram, and bubble—instead of wrestle, fail, and build. And when they disengage, we respond by making things easier or more entertaining, instead of more meaningful. That’s not learning. It’s theater.
The Proof Economy » Anand Sanwal

2 months ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter Sign up here if interested in Unf^cking Education. Harvard’s own dean of undergraduate education recently made a startling admission in the New York Times: “Students feel the need to distinguish themselves outside the classroom because they are essentially indistinguishable inside the classroom.“This isn’t just about grade inflation—it’s a tacit acknowledgment that even at America’s most prestigious university, the classroom has become secondary.
Education in 2040. Not 1940. » Anand Sanwal

2 months ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

Our schools today look strikingly similar to those of 1940—because we’ve never stopped to ask the most important question: What is the actual goal of education? We pour billions of dollars into education every year. We send our kids through it for over a decade. And yet, ask a parent, teacher or administrator—what’s the actual goal of education?—and you’ll usually hear:“Preparing kids for the future.”“Teaching them to think.”“Helping them learn how to learn.”Vague. Empty. Circular.
Why Schools Need to Move Away from Subjects » Anand Sanwal

2 months ago | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

If our schools were challenged to teach you how to ride a bike, you would:Study pedaling for a monthThen adjust seat heights for a monthFollowed by practicing brakingYou’d then examine tire physicsAnd finally, you’d learn about steeringThere’d be rubrics and lesson plans and you’d do this all without ever actually riding a bike on an actual road.
Why Schools Shouldn’t Teach Current Events » Anand Sanwal

Mar 29, 2025 | anandsanwal.me | Anand Sanwal

This essay first appeared in my newsletter. Sign up here if interested in F’ing up the status quo and fixing educationOne of the strangest educational traditions we’ve adopted is the belief that we must teach students about current events. It seems so obviously correct that few question it. What could be more important than understanding what’s happening in the world right now? This assumption doesn’t just deserve scrutiny—it needs to be challenged directly.